What the Cards Were For
by Bekah-chan
Summary: What were the Clow Cards made for in the first place? Last Chapter. S&S Fic
1. One

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction 

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (For, Um,

blood n' stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

Chapter 1:

Sakura was annoyed. For months these new monsters had been attacking Tokyo, and she and her friends were the only ones who could fight them. So here they were, again, battling evil in the wee hours of the morning.

Sakura quickly ducked as the enemy took a swipe at her with it's claws. It's claws were pretty much all they could see-- just an ominous cloud of blackness; With very sharp claws. ~Why Me?!!~ She thought, dodging again.

When she had finally caught all of the Clow Cards, about 3 years before, she had thought that all the dangers to her and her friends were over with. And , even though, so far, these creatures had been more of an annoyance than a danger, they still worried her. Where did they come from? And what did they want?

"Sakura! Watch It!!", Syaoran warned her. Just in time for her to jump out of the way of a particularly deadly attack.

"Pay attention, Sakura", Li Syaoran stated in his sarcastic voice, while effortlessly dodging attacks himself.

You'd think that after all this time Syaoran would be nicer to her. But Sakura knew that he cared, and was just trying to protect her, from her own folly if necessary. Plus, he was right. Sakura sighed, then made a determined effort to concentrate on the ongoing battle.

Sakura was tired. She had gotten very little sleep in the past few weeks. The monster attacks had escalated to at least one or two a night. She did not know how long they could keep this pace up. 

Tonight seemed to be especially difficult, partly because it was just her and Syaoran. Both of her Guardians needed more time to recover from recent events. So she had convinced Kero to stay home, and hadn't even told Yue about the attack. Even Madison was at home in bed, proving that when circumstances demanded it she *could* put something before her beloved camera---- sleep. At least the last meant that Sakura could wear her first and most comfortable battle outfit, her pajamas, instead of those slightly silly and greatly ostentatious get-ups that Madison made her wear. 

Even though she knew her friends needed to rest, Sakura was starting to wish that some of them were there also. It wasn't that she didn't think that she and Syaoran couldn't handle this monster, because she knew that they could, they had gotten through much worse then this together. But she was still uneasy. This monster was different somehow. It moved faster and seemed smarter than the others of it's kind that they has fought recently. She was definitely getting a bad feeling about the whole situation.

Sakura was frustrated. She tried to use one of her attack cards again, and failed again. This monster was so fast that it could stop her before she could open a card. Much like it had been stopping Syaoran whenever he tried to call on an element or his lightning attack.

Sakura was about to give up on opening a card, and just bash the thing over the head with her Star wand, when the status of the fight suddenly changed.

"Watch Out!!", Syaoran yelled. This time the concern evident in his voice. He dove toward Sakura, pulling her out of the way of *another* monster who had almost sliced her to ribbons from behind.

They landed in a tangle of arms, legs, a Star wand, and a sword- awkward to say the least. But they somehow managed to organize ownership of limbs and deadly weaponry in time to jump out of the way of the newest oncoming monster.

"I'm getting tired of this!", complained Sakura, "Now there are *two* of them!"

"Ya", her fighting partner returned, dodging again, "and this new one is twice as fast."

Sakura had to agree with him. Amazingly their new opponent was moving much faster than it's counterpart. Also disturbing, was the fact that both of the monsters seemed to be working together.

Syaoran and Sakura realized at the same time that they were running out of options. The enemies' relentless, and now combined, attacks gave them no time to stop and think, much less call on their magic. Another problem surfaced in Sakura's mind, she didn't know exactly how Syaoran was doing energy-wise, but *she* was exhausted. Tonight her energy had been used in running and jumping out of danger, and not having the scant seconds she needed to open a card. 

But what could she do if she didn't have time to release a card? The two magic-users couldn't stand still for a second without getting attacked. If they both hadn't had magically enhanced reflexes, she knew they would have fallen already. Part of her was starting to think that they had made it this far unscathed purely by luck. And, even as Sakura thought this, her luck ran out.

She felt a tearing pain in her right arm and looked down to see a jagged gash across an arm laid bare by the short sleeves of her pj's. She stood in shock for a moment and watched warm, sticky blood slide down her arm toward her hand. ~There sure is a lot of it~, she thought vaguely. It was starting to make her grip on the Star wand slippery.

Sakura was jolted back into reality when she heard Syaoran yell: "Sakura!", as he attempted to save her from the danger she had not noticed was coming. This time, however, he was not quick enough to save both of them.

Sakura watched in horror as she observed, seemingly in slow motion, Li Syaoran intercept a blow meant for herself.

"No, Li!" she cried as Syaoran fell unconscious to the ground in front of her. With three deep furrows torn into his back by the claws of the second monster.

Sakura was angry. The pain from her arm seemed to disappear as she looked from her Syaoran on the ground to his attacker standing over them. (AN: Did I mention that the monsters are quite tall?) 

She had to do this. She had to save Syaoran. She pulled the Thunder Card out of thin air with her left hand as her right began to twirl the Star wand in a practiced magical pattern. Sakura felt her confidence raising, she could do this. She would do this! But....... she didn't.

Her Star wand flew out of fingers made slippery by blood. It was flung by it's own momentum into the darkness between the two monsters, taking her hopes with it. How could she save Syaoran, and herself, if she didn't have her wand to open the cards?

As Sakura's hope bled out of her, the pain from her arm flooded back, almost crippling in it's intensity. It felt like something was *inside* her arm, burning through her blood. Was it some kind of poison? The monsters that had gone before had not been equipped with poison-tipped claws, but these two were different. She would expect anything from them at this point. From where she was standing it looked like they would succeed where many had failed before, and kill the Mistress of the Cards.

From the ground in front of her she heard Syaoran moan in pain as he regained semi-consciousness. If she died so would he.

Sakura looked down at the now useless Thunder Card in her hand. What could she do?

To Be Continued ^_^


	2. Two

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated PG (For blood 

and minor violence)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: I think I forgot to write that they are in the park. Where else?

  
  


Chapter 2:

Sakura looked down at the now useless Thunder Card in her hand. What could she do?

She looked up again quickly, wondering why the monsters hadn't attacked yet. She could barely make out their menacing forms in the darkness, only charting their location by the light of the moon glinting off their claws. They just stood there on the other side of Syaoran's limp body, watching her. They seemed to be waiting for something. And suddenly she had a good guess as to what they were waiting for. Coming towards them and closing fast, Sakura could sense a great evil.

She had never felt anything like this before. Some of the cards had tried to kill her, but they just wanted to stay free. Yue had tried to defeat her, but he was just doing his job in the judgment. Even from the monsters that they had fought in the last few weeks she had not felt such an evil rage. But now that she was looking for it she could sense, in the monsters, the same kind of energy that was coming from the approaching entity. She also felt satisfaction from them, they had done their job, to incapacitate and/or disarm the Mistress of the Cards and her partner, then wait for the boss to arrive to finish them off. Or whatever this mass of boiling evil was planning on doing with her and Syaoran.

Sakura couldn't let that happen, she had to think of something she could do to save them both before the monsters' boss got there.

~Come on, Sakura!~Said a voice in her mind that sounded suspiciously like Li Syaoran, ~Think! What powers do you have without the Star wand?~ She closed her eyes in concentration. Well she could sense things, but she didn't really think that would help in this situation. And she had visions of what would happen sometimes in her dreams, which also didn't help in her current predicament. But she could think of anything else that she could do without her wand...... Wait! Sakura remembered something that Kero had told her a few weeks ago:

"The Star wand is only a physical representation of your power, Sakura. Eventually you should be able to open the Clow Cards *without* the wand."

Could she do it? Was it "Eventually" yet? She opened her eyes and looked down at Syaoran. Only one way to find out. 

She closed her eyes again, concentrating as she tried to find the place in her mind that she went to whenever she opened a card. Usually it was an automatic thing for her, holding her Star wand instantly linked her to the pool of magic in her mind. She had never used the full power that was there, she somehow knew that it would be very dangerous to use all that magic at once. And using the Star wand only channeled a small amount. How could she get just enough to open the Thunder Card, and not burn herself out?

Soon she felt the card warm in her hand, but she didn't open her eyes, still concentrating.

~Open, open , open, please give me the power to save Syaoran~ she thought at the card desperately willing the card to obey. Sakura felt the card get warmer, then hot. ~Yes! It's working!~she thought.

Suddenly the weight of the card in her hand was gone. Had it opened? Sakura opened her eyes half expecting to see the Thunder Beast crouching in front of her, but she saw nothing. She looked down at her hand again, the card was gone.

"Where.... Where did it go?", she cried, almost sobbing. Clow Cards didn't just *disappear* did they? She looked around wildly, the Thunder Card was nowhere to be found. And she didn't have time to try and open another card without the Star wand. The evil presence she had sensed was almost there.

Still crying Sakura knelt next to Syaoran, "Come on, wake up Syaoran! We have to get out of here!" She somehow managed to get him to his feet, but he was still mostly unconscious. They broke into a stumbling run, Sakura supporting him with her uninjured arm.

She heard something pursuing them and glanced back. Oh, no! The monsters! They hadn't moved in so long that she had almost forgotten they were there. They weren't standing still now. Instead they were running after the former Card Captors, and the gap was swiftly closing.

Sakura tripped, her tired legs collapsing beneath her. As she tumbled to the ground she took Syaoran down with her, and the monsters were almost upon them. Sakura struggled to her feet and stood defensively in front of Syaoran. They would have to go through her fist (not that she thought it would be very hard at this point). It wasn't a very smart move, but it was all she could do.

~If only the Thunder Card had opened!~ Sakura gasped, the moment she had thought the word 'Thunder' something had sparked in her hands. She looked down to find blue electricity dancing across her palms. 

She didn't take time to think just held up her hands palms toward the oncoming danger and yelled: "Thunder!"her voice seemed to echo as crackling bolts of lightning shot out of her hands toward her enemies. The lightning was ten times stronger than that which she had called with the Thunder Card, she could feel the power being drawn directly from the pool of magic in her mind and pouring out through her hands in an electric storm.

She saw the monsters disintegrate with shrill cries from the force of the blast, and tried to turn the power off unsuccessfully. She frantically attempted to close the connection to her magic and stop the lightning. But nothing she tried worked. Her magic just kept bleeding out of her hands like the blood was from her arm. The blackness of the night closed around her as she fainted.

To Be Continued ^_^


	3. Three

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for yet more

blood n' stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Hi, just wanted to explain something. The name I will be using for Sakura's father is: Kent. The reason for this is that I can't remember the dub name, and the original is to hard to spell. ^_^ I picked the name Kent at random, but if someone can tell me his name in the dub I'll be happy to change it. Have Fun! =)

  
  


Chapter 3:

  
  


Sakura's father had been very worried about her recently. She had seemed so tired the last few weeks, her exhaustion showing in her movements. He wondered why she wasn't getting the sleep she needed. The thought that drugs might be involved had briefly crossed his mind, but he couldn't believe it of Sakura, she had always been a good kid. So why wasn't she sleeping?

Kent climbed slowly up the stairs, he had been finishing up some work and now it was very late, past midnight. He decided to check on Sakura, maybe she was having nightmares about her mother again. For months after his beloved wife's death, his daughter had been plagued with terrible dreams of her mother dying over and over again. She would then wake-up screaming and it would take him hours to get her calmed down. As she got older Sakura's nightmares had slowly become less frequent. But maybe they had started up again.

Kent slowly walked down the hall to Sakura's room and opened her door. He tried to be quiet, if she was asleep he didn't want to wake her, she needed the rest. He eased open the door, and the light from the hall feel onto Sakura's bed...... Sakura's *empty* bed! Where was she!?!

  
  


Meanwhile the current occupant of the room had also been worried about Sakura. She had been gone over 2 hours, after all, and she only had that baka kid, Li to protect her. Kero was sure something had gone wrong. So, when the door to Sakura's room opened, he shot up in the air and started talking. Without checking to see who it was, or remembering that she usually came in through the window after late night battles like this one.

"Sakura! Your Back! I was so worried! You shouldn't make me worry like that, I couldn't concentrate on my game at all! Was it another monster? Did you kill it? Where's the kid?"

He paused in his triad to let Sakura answer his questions, and noticed something different about her. For one thing she was a lot taller. For another, and he couldn't see this very clearly since the light was shining from behind Sakura, but her shoulders seemed a bit broader than they should be. Plus the figure was making these strange gaspy noises. It suddenly occurred to Kero that this might *not* be Sakura.

"Umm," he mumbled, "Your not Sakura, are you?"

"No I'm not", answered the figure as it keeled over backwards in a dead faint. (AN: Like father, Like daughter, no? ^_^)

Kero looked at Sakura's dad sprawled on the hallway carpet. Well, he would have had to find out sooner or later, right? Right! That was the story he was sticking to.

  
  


Somewhere in Penguin Park:

Sakura moaned as she awakened, she felt *terrible*! What had happened to her to make her feel this bad? She thought a moment. Oh, ya! The monsters. Were they gone? She sat up painfully trying to be alert. All that was left of their foes were a piles of ashes. Good, she had remembered that part right. But why hadn't her and Syaoran been torn to shreds, or whatever, by the monsters' 'boss'? She remembered sensing it very close before her consciousness went out like a light.

She tried to stretch her magical senses out to search for it. She could not sense it anywhere nearby, but her range was severely lessened by the draining of her magic. Which reminded her.

Sakura looked down at her hands. They seemed remarkably alright, except for a few scorch marks, for hands that had flung lightning a few hours before. Had it been a few hours? It felt like it. She looked at her watch, barely able to make out the numbers in the dark. Yes they had been here for hours, they had left her house at 10:30pm and it was now almost 2am. That was a long time, Kero was probably worried.

She stood on wobbly legs using her injured hands gingerly to help push her off the ground. It was then that she noticed the surprising lack of pain from her right arm. It couldn't be better already, could it? Looking down at the damaged limb she saw that no, it wasn't any better, it was worse. In the hour or more that she had been out of it, the bleeding had stopped, mostly. But more worrying was the sickly greenish cast of the skin surrounding the injury. She distantly decided that the poison, or whatever, from the monsters claws, must have numbed some of the nerves in her arm, and that the numbness was spreading up her arm. How much of the poison was already in her system? She thought it might be deadly, she was feeling really sick. And if this little (well little, comparatively) scratch could be this bad in such a short period of time, what about Syaoran?!

Frantically Sakura looked around for Li Syaoran. Where? There he was! She hurried over to him. Before she even collapsed beside him she could tell he was in bad shape. His breathing was shallow and ragged, his skin was burning to the touch, and the wounds going all the way down his back were still oozing blood and (AN: Eeeewww!) puss.

She had to get him out of here! But where to take him? The hospital was out Sakura was sure that the toxin was magical in origin. She would have to take him to her house. She hoped that her dad and brother would be asleep when they got there, but she didn't have a choice! They had to go somewhere and Kero was the only 'person' she could think of who might know the nature of this poison and how to threat it.

Okay, so she was taking Syaoran to her house. Now, how to get him there?

To Be Continued ^_^ 


	4. Four

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for blood)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Just wanted to remind everyone that Madison supplies Sakura and Kero with the latest in cordless communication.

  
  


Chapter 4:

Sakura tried to think through her exhaustion. How would she get Syaoran to her house? After awhile she decided that the first thing she needed to do was find her wand. So she walked back the way they had come, skirting the ashes, and found the Star wand a surprisingly short distance away. They hadn't really gotten very far before she tripped.

She painfully picked up her wand using left hand, her right arm wasn't good for much at this point. As she turned to walk back to Syaoran, a glint caught her eye. She looked closer and noticed that it was Syaoran's sword catching the light. She couldn't just leave that lying around, now could she? So, she somehow managed to carry both the wand and sword back to Syaoran, collapsing beside him again.

Great! How was she going to get him home if she couldn't walk 10 feet herself!?! Sakura took a deep breath, ~I can do this~, she thought, ~I can find a way! I WILL NOT allow Li Syaoran to die on me!~

Okay, options. She had her cell phone, she could call Yukito and have Yue come help her. No, his place was farther from her house than the park was, she needed him to start toward her house so he could help her figure a way to save Syaoran when they got there. She could call Kero, but he used her energy to transform, and she didn't think that would work well right now. Well it looked like the only option was to use a card then, if she even could.

Sakura closed her eyes and looked inward, yes there was just the tiniest bit of magic left. It had stopped draining when she fell unconscious. There was *maybe* enough to open one card, with the Star wand, but that was it. She had to choose well. Let's see, the Fly Card? No, she couldn't carry Syaoran, she could barely carry his sword! The Move Card? Again no, it was to unstable. Then it hit her: The Float Card! Of course!

Now to see if she could open it, first she would have to get it. She concentrated, thinking of the Clow Book at home in her room. She thought of what the card looked like, slowly raised her hand and *willed* it to be there. Her hand started shaking, it had never been this difficult to call a card to her before. She tried harder, it would come! She was the Mistress of the Cards! Just a little more........ almost......... got it!

Sakura opened her eyes to see the Float Card resting peacefully in her outstretched hand. Suddenly she felt faint again, dizzy. She dropped her head to her knees and tried to breath deeply until it passed.

After a few minutes, when she felt a little better, she sat up slowly. Now would come the hard part. She had to open it.

She placed Syaoran's sword beside him, and stood again, unsteadily. She put the wand under her right arm, and held the card with her left hand. Now, how to do this? 

"Float Card!" she called. A glowing circle appeared beneath her, it flickered a little, but held. She tossed the card out and the magic circle held it in front of her. She grabbed the Star wand, holding it near the top, above the dried blood. She knew she couldn't spin it though, so she didn't even bother to try.

"Release and Dispel! Float!" She hit it with the Star wand. For a moment she didn't think that it had worked, then the small rectangle turned into a pink smoke that circled around and under Sakura, and Syaoran. As a pink bubble formed, with the partners inside it, Sakura kept the thought of it taking them to her home firmly in her mind. Once she felt the Float raising off the ground and moving toward her house, she sat abruptly on the bottom of the bubble next to Syaoran. The bubble immediately widened to give her more room.

~Thanks~, she thought at it, she didn't really expect an answer, she had never gotten one before from *any* of the cards. But this time it was different somehow.

~You are welcome~, said a voice in her mind, ~I'll get you home safely Mistress.~ Sakura could only describe the voice as, well, 'bubbly'. 

Sakura thought of talking to it again, maybe asking it why it had never spoken to her before. But decided against it. She had some calls to make.

  
  


Back at Sakura's House:

Kent, Kero, and Touya (who had been awoken when his father had begun to *loudly* demand to know what was going on, and where Sakura was!), were all in the kitchen. Kero had been telling them, a little, about Sakura and her magical after school activities. Touya sat at the table with his father trying to absorb it all. His little sister, the monster, was out killing real monsters? Was it even possible? Of course, a flying stuffed animal with a bottomless stomach wasn't very likely either. Oh, and the stuffed animal, who said his name was Kero, talked too. He could also do all three at the *same* time. Sakura's family watched in amazement as Kero flew to the cupboard grabbed some pretzels, some pudding, some cookies, etc. And proceeded to stuff his face while, even more amazingly, he spoke *clearly* to them. Now that was truly magical!

Kero was in the middle of Sakura's capture of the Fiery Card, and a bag of potato chips, when Kero's phone started ringing (he had brought the phone downstairs with them in case Sakura called and needed help). At the same time that doorbell rang. Touya went to get the door, while Kero dived for the phone in the middle of the table.

Touya came back in the kitchen with Yukito as Kero was asking Sakura what was wrong. 

"Why are you here at this time of night?" Sakura's dad asked Yukito, who hadn't even blinked at seeing Kero hovering over the table and yelling: "Sakura what is it?" into a cell phone. But Yukito was like that, the strangest things didn't seem to faze him much.

"Yes Sakura, Yue is here," Kero said, looking up at the new arrival.

"Who's Yue?", asked Yukito.

To Be Continued ^_^ 


	5. Five

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for blood

and puss ^_~)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Okay, before we go any further we need to clear something up. I have never seen an episode with Yue, and I'm not exactly sure what happened with him and Touya. So this is how it is according to *my* story. When Yukito/Yue was disappearing from lack of energy, Touya gave up his ability to see ghosts to give Yue the power he needed to survive (found that on varies web sites). So, Touya knows about Yue, but not about Sakura. Sakura knows that Touya knows, but Touya doesn't know that Sakura knows that he knows, with me so far? ^_^ Okay, good! Finally Kero knows all, but Kent and Yukito know nothing. I think that's all. Wait, one more thing! Eriol is not in this story, don't know enough about that character to write it. Now I'm sure that's all. Onward!

  
  


Chapter 5:

"Who's Yue?", asked Yukito curiously.

Now Touya was even more confused. Yue, for some strange reason, didn't want his human self to know about him. And how did Kero know about him/them? Did Sakura know as well? Touya yanked his mind back to Yukito's question.

"Um, well, you see, Yue is....." Touya suddenly broke off as he felt the familiar tug on his energy that meant Yue was making an appearance.

"....is right here" Yue finished, flexing his wings. He blinked purple eyes at Kero, "What is wrong with our Mistress?"

"Hold on, I'm trying to find out", Kero replied to his fellow guardian. He listened to Sakura's voice on the phone for a few more minutes then said; "Okay, Sakura. Try and land in the back yard. Yue and I will meet you." He pushed the disconnect button and turned his attention back to the rest of the people in the room. ~Well, mostly people.~, he thought looking at Yue.

"The Li kid is injured, I think Sakura might be as well. She's using the Float Card to get them here, they should arrive any minute. C'mon Yue, she's gonna need us." he said briefly, then floated toward the backdoor. Yue moved to follow, but Touya stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Hold on Yue, what did he mean by 'Mistress'? And what does Li Syaoran have to do with anything?" Touya demanded. Behind him Kent nodded with the question.

Yue thought for a moment but didn't see anything wrong with answering them. It looked like Kero had already been explaining things when he got there.

"Sakura is the Mistress of the Clow Cards, Kerberos and I are her guardians, she is our Master. Li Syaoran was her partner in capturing the Clow Cards, he is a skilled sorcerer and fighter. He has saved Sakura's life many times, as she has saved his. I believe they are very devoted to one another." With that Yue moved to the door, opening it for him and Kero to go through. He didn't look back to see what reaction his words had caused in the two men left standing by the table.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Kent said. Touya completely agreed with him.

  
  


Somewhere over the city:

Sakura turned off her cell phone and sighed. She had a feeling that something was not the same at home, Kero had sounded a little guilty. She wondered what he had done to her room now. The last time he had sounded like this was when he had 'accidentally' demolished her English essay in a fit of rage over a lost video game, the day before it was due. Second sigh, oh well she would probably find out what he felt guilty about sooner or later, right now she had other things to worry about.

She looked down at Syaoran, who hadn't moved or shown any response in the last 20 minutes. His wound looked worse too, the puss was just *not* a pretty color. Sakura was torn between fainting again and breaking into tears. For a moment the tears almost won, she just didn't know what she would do if she lost Syaoran. She hadn't even told him how she felt about him. ~I'm almost home, I just have to hold on until then,~ she told herself. Kero and Yue would be able to help them, they had never let her down before.

The bubble the Float had created started to descend, Sakura looked out through a pink haze to see her neighborhood, then her house. 

"We need to land in the backyard," she said aloud, and felt the cards assent. As they got closer Sakura saw Yue standing on the back porch waiting for her to land. To her shock she also saw that standing beside him was Touya *and* her father. Eeep! So *that* was why Kero had sounded guilty, he had blabbed the secrets of her magic to all and sundry. She'd have to have a little talk with him about that later.

She looked on the bright-side, at least now she wouldn't have to explain her and Syaoran's injures to her dad..... Kero could do it!

The Float set them down gently on the grass, and swirled into pink smoke again. For some reason, despite all the things that had happened to her tonight, she fully expected the Float Card to revert to it's true form. But it didn't happen that way.

~I'm sorry,~ she heard the card's bubbly voice say in her mind, ~We all wish this didn't have to happen now.~ What had to happen? By 'we' did Float mean the rest of the cards? Sakura really didn't have time to think about it, for right after the Float finished it's apology the smoke that was supposed to flow back into a card shape, instead flowed into the Mistress of the Cards.

Sakura opened her mouth in a silent scream as the Float Card joined the Thunder card inside her mind. It hadn't hurt this much when she had absorbed Thunder, but she had contained more magic then, so perhaps that was why. In any case it didn't last long, and it was dark. No one on the porch seemed to have noticed what had happened. Which was good because she didn't want her guardians to worry about her right now she wanted them to focus on saving Syaoran. Because, with the few magical senses Sakura had left she could *feel* Syaoran's aura flickering.

Li Syaoran was dying.

To Be Continued ^_^


	6. Six

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for blood

and other stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 6:

After some slight confusion, Yue and Touya carried Syaoran, Kero carried Syaoran's sword, and Kent helped his daughter (his heart aching when he noticed she could hardly walk) into the house.

Sakura felt terrible, and from the worried glances everyone was giving her knew that she must look it as well. But she didn't care, all her attention was drawn to her partner. He *had* to get better.

They carried him into the kitchen and laid him on the table (Kero rushing to sweep away the potato chip crumbs he had left there) so they could look at this back. Once they got a close look under the direct light above the kitchen table, Sakura gasped and thought she might faint again. She saw Touya swallow hard out of the corner of her eye, and she thought it hit the others similarly. Even Kero looked a little green. Yue was the only one who took it in stride, typically.

"How did this happen?" he asked. So Sakura told them about the monsters, how they had been different then the others, stronger and faster, with more intelligence. She told them about the poison and her suspicion that it was magical in origin (She left out the part about the Big Evil something that she had sensed, she'd talk with Kero about it later). While she was explaining how the enemy had gotten past her and Syaoran's guard, she gestured toward her arm as an example. Touya's eyes went wide and he grabbed Sakura's arm pulling it under the light.

"Sakura!" exclaimed Kero, "Why didn't you tell me about your arm over the phone?"

She jerked her arm back, "That's not important right now! Syaoran got more of the poison then I did! We have to help him, he's dying!."

"Alright, Sakura! Calm down and let us look at your arm." Kero said. Sakura glared at him in answer.

"We'll help Li, I promise,"said Kero, waving his little arms in the air, "but we need to look at your arm. You said it was the same poison, it will be easier to determine exactly what it is if we examine your arm. It's umm, less messy."

~Well that's true~, thought Sakura cringing. She tried not to look at Syaoran, it *hurt* her to see him that way. "Okay," she agreed, "Just hurry."

She held out her arm for her guardians to analyze. Yue held it steady while he and Kero bent over it. They both started glowing faintly Kero orange/gold and Yue purple/silver. Suddenly their eyes went all trancy and they closed them at the same time.

"What are they doing?" asked Kent.

"They are probing it with magic, to find out what kind of poison it is, even if they don't recognize the toxin they should be able to get some idea of how to cure it." Sakura replied.

They watched the guardians' trance in silence for a few moments. Sakura was glad Yue was holding her arm up, she didn't think she could have held it out long enough otherwise. She put the end of the Star wand on the floor and leaned on it a little, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it to open a card again tonight. Even if she had the energy to open another one, what had happened with the Float worried her. Would that happen with every card she opened from now on?

Abruptly Kero and Yue pulled out of the trance. "Wow! That stuff is nasty!" Kero said floating toward the table and looking down, "Definitely don't want to look closer at the kid's back." he gave a little shudder. Even Yue seemed a little shaken.

"What did you find?" demanded Sakura, "Can we cure him?"

"We could make a cure if we had a lot of things we are currently lacking. One of those being time." stated Yue.

"Are you guys saying we can't help him!?!" yelled Sakura frantically.

"No, just that we can't make a cure." explained Kero.

"HOW CAN WE CURE HIM WITHOUT ONE!??!" Sakura was nearing the end of her rope, she felt like grabbing the stuffed animal and ringing his fluffy neck until he told her how to make Syaoran better.

"Well there is one thing that usually works in cases like this." Kero clarified.

"WHAT???"

"Fire."

"Oh," blink, ~Well, duh!~ she thought.

"Like matches or something?" asked Touya.

"No, it has to be magical fire." Yue commented.

"Magical fire?" asked Kent.

"I was afraid you'd say that", mumbled Sakura.

"What was that Sakura?" Kero again.

"Is the Fiery Card the only 'magical fire' we have at this point?" she wondered.

"Unless you want me to use my fire-bow," Yue said, "and I can't be precise with that. It's full power, or nothing. With the Fiery you should be able to control it enough to only burn the poison out of the wound, and not harm the flesh around it."

Sakura took a deep breath. It looked like she didn't have a choice *again*. She had to save Syaoran. Oh, and she had to save herself. "Alright, Kero go get the Fiery Card."

"Can't you call it?"

"No, Kero, I can't. We'll be lucky if I can open it," she admitted. She did not, however, share her worries about sealing it again.

"Your that tired? Maybe we *should* let Yue try first."

"No, just go get the card. Better yet, bring down the book, maybe I can use some of it's power."

"Okay, you're the Mistress," he zoomed up the stairs. 

"What's going on?", Kent wanted to know.

"Well usually I can call the cards directly to me from the book no matter where I am. But tonight I can't because there was a major drain on my power."

When she said the last part Yue jumped a little, though unperceptively. He knew his Mistress had a vast amount of power that was mostly untapped. How could *anything* have drained that much from her?

"Power?" her father asked.

"Magical power," she clarified.

"But I thought you got your power from those cards."

While Sakura was pondering how to answer, Yue did it for her: "Sakura never could have opened the Book of Clow or used the cards if she didn't have power of her own."

"Where did she get power of her own then?" Kent asked confusedly.

"She was born with it," Yue's eyes flicked to Touya as he continued, "Your family has some interesting abilities."

Kent wanted to ask Yue what he meant by that, but was interrupted by Kero. Who, at that moment, came floating back into the kitchen, the Book of Clow bobbing along behind him.

"Here it is Sakura," he said.

When Kero stopped next to Yue, the book continued to float to Sakura. As it came to a halt in front of her the book opened, revealing the magical cards inside.

"I need the Fiery Card," she told it. She felt a curious sense of sadness and reluctance from the cards, but they obediently rose out of the book and shuffled out the Fiery. Then they settled back in the book before it closed.

Sakura held out her left hand and the Fiery Card came to rest in it. The moment she touched the card she heard it's voice in her mind.

~Please don't do this Mistress~

To Be Continued ^_^


	7. Seven

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for blood

and other stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 7:

~Please don't do this Mistress~, the Fiery said into Sakura's mind in a cracklely/roaring voice. ~If you open me now, I'll be absorbed into you once my task is completed, and I'm one of the strongest. If that happens in your current condition it could kill you.~

~But I have to save Syaoran~, she said back in the same way, ~And do you know why this is happening?~

~Yes, it was always supposed to happen, though not this way and not this soon.~

~Do you know why?~

~No, the cards just knew that it would happen. The Guardian Beast of the Seal might know why.~

~Well thank you for telling me of the danger, but I have to save him. Even at the risk of my death.~

~Do you think Master Syaoran would feel the same?~ the card asked with disturbing insight.

No, he wouldn't, Sakura knew. If she died taking such a risk to save his life, he would probably follow her into the next world just to yell at her about what an idiot she had been. She smiled.

~That would be another risk I'm taking.~ ,she confided, ~Will you do it?~

~You're the Mistress~, the Fiery echoed Kero's earlier sentiment, ~I will do as you say, but please be careful.~

~I promise~, she really didn't want to die, she wanted to live. But only if Syaoran was alive too.

  
  


The rest of the occupants of the room watched Sakura stare at the Fiery Card.

"It looks almost like she's talking to it," observed Touya.

"Is that possible?" Kent asked the guardians.

"Highly possible," answered Kero, "Being able to talk to the cards like that is one of the levels a Card Sorceress would go through."

"Has a 'Card Sorceress' been able to do it before?"

"No, Sakura is the only Sorceress of the Clow Cards. She is the first to control them after Clow made them, and she will be the last. The cards were made to be wielded only by the most powerful magic user in the world."

"She's *that* powerful?", Touya couldn't believe that.

"Yes, she is," Kero said simply. Sakura's two male relatives turned to Yue for more information, disbelief and the need to know warring in their eyes.

"The Book of Clow was designed so it could only be opened by a sorcerer of a greater power then Clow Reed himself. Sakura hasn't yet been fully trained, but the power is there. I worked with Master Clow until his death, and I *never* saw such power until I met Sakura."

"Does she know?" Kent asked after Yue finished talking.

"No, she doesn't," Kero answered him, "She is just a kid, we didn't want her to have to face that too soon. You know how Sakura is, if she knew she had that kind of power her caring heart and sense of responsibility would make her want to use that power to help everyone who needed it. And while that is a good cause, that would expose her to too much danger. Besides she needs to save her power for something else."

"What?"

"She's going to save the world." Kero said absently watching Sakura as she ended her 'conversation' with the card and turned to them.

  
  


Sakura took a deep breath, if they saw her fear they would never let her do this, and she had to save Syaoran. When she turned to them, her brother and father looked shell-shocked ~Hm, wonder why?~ Kero looked like he was pondering something. And Yue looked.... (AN: you guessed it folks;) serious and determined, with just a pinch of sadness and worry for Sakura thrown in. She'd have to ask Kero later what they had been talking about whilst she was chatting with the Fiery Card. 

With all of them obviously elsewhere, Sakura stepped into the shoes of leadership, that she always seemed to be able to fill when necessary.

"Okay guys, we've got a lot to do here," they all pulled themselves out of their thoughts to listen to her. "We've got to get ready before I open Fiery, it won't be open for long. So we need to wake Syaoran up if we can, tell him what's going on, try to sit him up, I think it will be easier that way. And" - Sakura hated to do it to Syaoran's beautiful Li clan ceremonial robes, but- "we need to cut his clothes away from the wound. While you guys do that I'll try and get some extra power from the book. Okay?" They all nodded, even Touya didn't question taking orders from his 'little' sister, after all she was going to save the world.

To Be Continued ^_^


	8. Eight

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for blood

and puss implications)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Thank You! to the person who told me about Sakura's Dad's name in the dub, but I've decided I like 'Kent' better. ^_^ Don't you?

  
  


Chapter 8:

Kero floated over to the table in the middle of Sakura's kitchen and glanced down at the Li kid. He really wasn't looking that well. His wounds were still bleeding and oozing puss. (AN: Yep, the puss is still there folks;) Syaoran was also flushed with a high fever, and mumbling something about Sakura and needing to protect her from the monsters. 

~Looks like the kid really does care about her~, Kero thought. Then he looked closer trying to find the perfect place to bite---- they *did* need to wake him up, didn't they? ^_^

  
  


Sakura plucked the Book of Clow out of the air and placed it on the counter. She really didn't know if she could get any useful energy from it, but figured it was worth a shot. She leaned the Star Wand on the counter, and put the Fiery card down next to the book which she then placed her hands over. She winced when she had to move her right arm, but knew she needed both hands to feel the magic sufficiently. As she closed her eyes and focused her inner senses on the book, she felt like she was coming home to an old friend. This book and the magic in it had been with her through so much. She experienced a vague sadness at the thought of what might happen to the book once all the cards where gone. Would it lose all it's power, and just disappear?

Sakura shook off her thoughts and tried to find any magic she could 'borrow' from the book. Well, there was the powerful sealing spell which wasn't really needed anymore, and a strange spell she had some trouble identifying. What was it for? There were some familiar elements, like she could tell it was cast by Clow Reed, and that it was part of every part of the book. Plus, she got the mysterious sense that the spell was like an anchor, holding the book in this plain. She probably shouldn't try to take it off then, who knows what would happen. Okay, the sealing spell then. She carefully dismantled the spell and took the power into herself. It only gave her a small amount of magic since the main part of that spell had been Kero, and he wasn't in the book anymore. The power it did give her was enough to open the Fiery, but how long would it stay open? She decided to ask the card in question. She picked up the Fiery again.

~With the power from the sealing spell, how long will you be able to stay?~ she thought at it.

~Not very long Mistress, sorry. I am one of the most powerful so I won't be able to withstand the pull to join your magic for very long.~

~Oh~, Well that made since..... kind of. Maybe it was like a magnet, the stronger the force (or card) the stronger the pull.

She thought some more, then she remembered how she had caught the Fiery with two of the elemental cards (Windy and Water) working together.

~Fiery, since you're strongest element card do you think you could use power from the other three in order to stay open longer?~

~I think so, but if I drew power from them, when I'm absorbed they might come too.~

Oh, that's just great! There was always something wasn't there?

~Well, we'll just have to risk it. If you need more power to finish healing Syaoran, take it from the other element cards.~

~Yes, Mistress~, the Fiery said reluctantly. Fiery wished that it could talk to one of the guardians about this plan, it had a really bad feeling something was going to go wrong.

  
  


"Ahhhhh!" The yell made everyone in the kitchen turn to look at the table where they saw Syaoran had miraculously awoken, sat upright, and was now shaking one arm violently. A closer look at said arm revealed what appeared to be a....... Kero attached to one of his fingers.

"What are you doing! You....... Stupid......... Stuffed....... Animal?!?!?" the last for words Syaoran spoke were annunciated by sharp jerks of the Kerberos bearing hand. But this failed to have the desired effect, for the 'stuffed animal' stayed firmly adhered to the end of Syaoran's finger until he stopped shaking his arm and collapsed sideways from exhaustion. Which didn't take long-- he *was* injured you know.

"Oh! Syaoran! Are you okay?" Sakura hurried, stumbled, fell across the kitchen to his side. While she was helping Syaoran sit up again, Sakura glared at Kero, who had fled to the relative safety of her father's shoulder. ~Ohhh! Fine! Run to the only parent in the room! I'll get you later!~ Sakura didn't think Kero had heard her threat, but he still looked a little 'shaken'.

"Sakura!", Syaoran gasped, drawing her attention back to him. "Your safe!", he put his arms around her and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. "I almost lost you that time, didn't I?"

"I came closer to losing you," she whispered into his hair, holding him as tightly as she could with one arm. ~And it's not over yet~, she thought to herself.

She looked at the other people in the room, they had a wide variety of expressions. Her father had a look that said: 'That's my daughter?' Touya definitely had a look of: 'What's that gaki doing with his arms around my little sister?!?' Yue just looked tolerant. But Kero's expression was the oddest, he looked like Madison did when she caught Sakura and Syaoran in what Madison had dubbed a CCCM (triple 'c'/m) = Cute Cuddly Couple Moment. Sakura hadn't known that Kero was a sap at heart.(AN: We knew, didn't we? *giggle* :)

Sakura again looked down at Syaoran stroking her hand through his hair. In her mind she reaffirmed the determination that this person, who was so precious to her (even if he didn't know it), *would not* die; would not leave this world, without her.

To Be Continued ^_^


	9. Nine

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for blood

and um, some burns)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: I think that the chapters will be getting a little longer from now on, I hope. ^_^ Thanks to all the people who reviewed this story.

  
  


Chapter 9:

Sakura stood in the middle of her kitchen, preparing to open the Fiery Card. (AN: Birda-chan, my sister, says: *FINALLY*) Syaoran was now sitting again on the table. The top of his outfit was gone, (AN: ^_~) cut away to expose the injury. Kent was helping Li stay upright, while Touya stood beside him looking worried (for Sakura), and annoyed (because of Syaoran).

Kero and Yue stood, or floated, next to their Mistress to offer what help they could, which wasn't much-- they were her cards and only she could open them. But they could, and did, advise her.

"Remember to use finite control with the Fiery," cautioned Yue, "Concentrate on getting rid of the poison and on healing, if you slip you could seriously burn Master Li or yourself." Sakura nodded, she was planning on being careful, and she would prefect her control on her own wound before healing Syaoran. That way she would be sure not to hurt him.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said. Yue handed her the Star Wand before stepping back to give her room. As she took the wand from him, Sakura noticed that the blood was gone from the handle, Yue must have cleaned it off. She smiled her gratitude at him "Good luck, Mistress," Yue said in return.

Kero landed on her left shoulder holding the Fiery, "Please be careful, Sakura," Kero knew that Sakura hadn't told them all that had happened. He sensed something big was wrong, and Sakura's magical aura was worrying him greatly. Her magic power was usually blinding in it's brilliance when looked at through mage sight, but now it was barely flickering. Something was wrong.

Sakura forced the fingers of her right hand to hold the Star wand then reached up with her left, Kero placed the Clow card in it, before fluttering off to wait with Yue.

"Fiery Card!!" she yelled the card's name. Below her a familiar glowing circle appeared, but it was even fainter then the one she called to open the Float had been. She needed to gather a little extra energy, and the easiest way to do that was to spin the Star Wand. But could she do it with one arm? She'd find out soon.

Sakura tossed the Fiery out over the circle of light, which caught it and held it in front of the Card Mistress. She then took the wand in her left hand and started to spin it slowly, glad she had done all those baton drills at school. When she saw that the circle had a brighter glow to it she swung the Star wand at the card hitting it dead center.

"Release And Dispel!! Fiery!!", she finished the summoning. Unbalanced a little by using one arm to open it, Sakura struggled to stand still, watching to see if it had worked. The circle beneath her seemed to kick up it's own wind, reacting to the powerful magic being conducted within. Good! It was opening. Once the card started to glow, Sakura willed it to obey her, she needed the magic in her hand. She had decided that it was the best way to get the kind of control Yue and Kero said she needed to make this work.

Slowly the card turned into a fire colored light which was absorbed through it's contact with the Star wand. It moved down the wand and collected in her hand. Once this had happened, and the glowing seal of Clow had disappeared from beneath her, Sakura fell to her knees gasping in exertion. She was careful to keep her left hand away from her body.

  
  


On The Kitchen Table:

When Syaoran had learned that Sakura was alright, his temporary strength had left as he sank once more into a fevered stupor. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, because he seemed to be hallucinating. It couldn't be true that Sakura's father was holding him up, and that Touya was right there glaring at him. And *surely* they hadn't cut off the top of the Li clan ceremonial robes. Therefore it must be a fever dream. Sakura had briefly explained about the poison and that she was going to open the Fiery to help them. The logical, and far away, part of his mind agreed with this move, magical fire should take care of the poison. This part of his mind also might have noticed that there was something *wrong* with all of these people together in Sakura's kitchen. But the logical part of his mind was not in control at the moment, so he did not think of these things. Instead he did what Sakura had told him to do and tried to stay awake, after all Sakura had told him to, so it must be important. Everything Sakura said was important-- at least it was to Li Syaoran.

Syaoran's eyes went from fevered to dreamy, as he thought about Sakura. Usually he didn't let himself think of her this way, he had a responsibility to his family, he had to go back home eventually. But the poison had lowered some of his barriers against his feelings for Sakura, and he had been so worried about her. ~Ahhhhh, Sakura~, he thought. She was perfect, she was beautiful, and she was strong. Stronger in magic then he would ever be, and strong in her caring for others. For a moment he entertained his wish to be with Sakura forever. To marry her someday and live with her in Japan. They would be so happy. *sigh*

Behind him Syaoran sensed the Clow circle being activated, which pulled him out of his thoughts and into a clearer state of mind. Sakura must be opening the Fiery. He half-turned to watch her, and got a few surprises. For one, the circle was a pale shadow of what it should be. For another, Sakura was only spinning the Star wand with one hand. Finally he sensed, with emotions buried deep in his soul that only worked in relation to Sakura, that his love was in mortal peril.

Syaoran closed his eyes and whispered a word that meant both "sight" and "knowing" in an ancient language that was no longer spoken. What he saw when he opened his eyes shocked him to the core. There was almost no trace of Sakura's magic around her at all. There was Clow magic, but the power behind it felt different, like the cards had felt before Sakura caught them. And Syaoran suddenly *knew* that Sakura must not open this card, something was wrong.

"Sakura, No!", he tried to call, but all that came out was a raspy whisper, and she didn't hear him. She swung her sealing wand at the card, hitting it with her usual precision. "No", he tried again desperately, but it was to late, the card had already dissolved into it's pure magic form and traveled down the Star wand to it's Mistress' hand.

"Something Wrong?," Kent had heard him trying to warn Sakura.

"Yes," he answered, "She shouldn't have opened that card!"

"Why not? Kero said she does it all the time." Evidently Syaoran had missed a lot more than he thought, since when was Kero even *talking* to Sakura's father?

"She does it often enough, but it's different this time. I sense she is in danger."

As if his words were a catalyst, Sakura chose that moment to drop the spell and fall to her knees.

"Sakura!!!" Syaoran (well everyone really) yelled in worry. Yue was closest, he had started moving as soon as the Clow Seal powered down. Syaoran wished with everything he was that he could be there for his beloved, but he knew that even if he tried to get to her now he could be of no help. Not in his current condition. All he could do was watch in concern as the Moon Guardian went to his Mistress' aid.

  
  


Back At Ground Zero:

Sakura tried to breath slowly, grasping to strengthen her tenuous hold on both the Fiery Card and her own consciousness. She noticed Yue approach as if to help her stand. She couldn't let him get close now! She needed more control first, until then anyone who got near her would get hurt. Or, more specifically, they would get burned.

"No! Yue stay back!" she ordered. Yue stopped instantly.

"What is it?", he asked.

"And did you open it? Are you okay?," finished Kero, floating along behind him.

"I'm alright," she assured them. ~For now, at least~ she added mentally.

"What about the card?" Kero asked again.

In answer Sakura simply lifted her left hand from the dropped Star Wand and held it up for them to see. Sakura heard them all gasp, she understood why. Her hand was encased in a burning glove of fire, flaring out of control and smoothly lying against her skin from one second to the next, constantly leaping from one form to the other. She had to get control fast, she could already feel the newly opened card begin to draw on the other elemental cards to stay open. It had happened much more swiftly than she or the Fiery had thought it would. Time was running out.

She stared hard at her hand willing the fire to obey. Once she felt she had enough of a command over it she asked Yue to help her to the table. When they got there she immediately noticed that Syaoran looked more alert and was almost sitting up without help from her father. In Syaoran's eyes she saw worry and fear for her safety. She tried to tell him that it would be okay with her eyes. But all his eyes said back was that he knew she wasn't telling them something. She looked away before he could see the truth of his anxieties in her face.

Sakura sat down at the table, careful to keep her left side toward Syaoran so he could not see the severity of her injury. "Yue," she almost whispered, "hold my arm down please, don't let go, no matter what. Okay?" she watched Yue closely until he nodded his eyes sad, he knew what she meant. She most likely would not start out with the kind of control needed to keep the magic fire from burning more then she wanted it to. She required someone to hold her arm firmly, so that when she burned it (which she couldn't see not happening at first) she wouldn't be able to jerk it away. Yue was the only one level-headed enough to handle this, the others in the room were strong enough, but not where she was concerned. She was their weakness. Yue understood when things had to be done, and he did them.

Sakura laid her arm flat on the table and Yue held it still, his wings *accidentally* blocking the view. Now, if she could only keep from screaming, the marshmallow men (and stuffed animal) in the room need never know.

Sakura took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before clamping her jaw shut with resolution, she wouldn't make a sound. She examined her arm again, it looked *really* icky, she'd better get this over with. She started at the upper end of the gash, almost up to the bend in her arm. The moment she touched the tip of one fire incased finger to the cut she knew that her prediction had been right, her arm jerked involuntarily under Yue restraint. The pain was almost indescribable, like a red hot poker stabbing into her arm, she gritted her teeth as silent tears leaked from her eyes to streak down her face.

She drew a shaky breath and fell to her last recourse, pulling her mind into the trace-like state she used when trying to get a reading from the Clow Cards. Sakura pushed her mind past the pain and concentrated on burning *just* the poison, and closing the wound. Immediately the pain lessened and by the time she had slowly drawn her finger along the length of the cut, it didn't hurt at all, just tickled a little. The top of the injury, of course, still hurt very badly. But she continued to block this pain as she pulled herself out of the trance, and glanced down at the now healed gash. Well, healed except for the part where she had begun, which was blistering. She again forced the thought from her mind and focused on the good side: She'd done it! She could heal Syaoran!! (AN: Yeah! ^_^)

Sakura looked up at Yue in triumph, meeting the question in his deep-purple eyes. Was she okay? She nodded, she was better then she had been. Yue released her arm and stepped back, giving Sakura room to stand, which she did while inconspicuously wiping the tears from her face. Now on to more important things, she turned to Syaoran.

To Be Continued ^_^


	10. Ten

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for some

tense stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 10:

"Sakura, are you okay?" asked three manly men with cream filled centers, at roughly the same time.

"Yes," she answered them, showing them her arm, but angling it behind her body so that they could only see the fully healed part of the wound. She wasn't quick enough to hide it from Kero, however, since he landed on her right shoulder. He didn't say anything at the sight of her burn, just gave her a look that meant she would have to explain later. Which she would happily do, if there *was* a later.

Suddenly Sakura felt a mental jerk from the Fiery, it couldn't talk to her, not in this form, but it let her know the urgency of the situation just the same. The elemental cards were tapped out, all four of them. Now they were each pulling power from cards below them to keep the Fiery open. Fiery was drawing power from the Light and the Dark, Windy from the Fly and the Move, Watery from the Mist and the Freeze, and Earthy from the Wood and the Sand. And when each of those cards were drained the elements could pull power from four beneath them. So right now she was pulling power from twelve Clow cards. A number that would double in a matter of minutes. Sakura had no doubt, after what happened with Float, that she would absorb Fiery when she closed it, and it looked like it would be bringing twenty-three other cards with it. Maybe more if she couldn't hurry.

With a valiant effort Sakura kept the panic from her face as she walked around the table, to stand behind Syaoran. "Your turn, Syaoran," she looked at her family, "Dad, Touya, could you hold him steady?" They moved to do as she asked, Yue and Kero coming to her side unbidden. But Syaoran was still worried. A few moments ago he had felt great pain from her, and the sense of danger around her had not diminished, had even grown to an extent that he was becoming quite alarmed.

"Sakura?" he demanded turning half-way in his position to meet her gaze, "What's going on? Something is wrong, I can feel it!" She should have known he'd figure something was up, he knew her better than anyone.

"Nothing is wrong," she denied, forcing a smile. "I'll just heal you and then everything will be fine." she could tell that he didn't believe her.

"Don't try that 'everything's alright' act with me, I know you too well" ~True~ "and I *know* that something *is* wrong, I can't even sense your power anymore!! So what is it!?!"

For someone who's voice was raspy (you know, from the whole dying of poison thing) he could still yell very well. ~Impressive~, thought Kero, before what the Li kid had said, instead of how he had said it, hit him. "You can't sense her WHAT??!!" He yelled, much louder than Mr. Raspy-Voice.

"Her power, I can sense Clow magic, but it doesn't have her power signature. And what power is there," he squinted at her aura, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, "what is there is... splintering."

"'Splintering' What's that supposed to mean?" the floating fluff-ball returned.

"I don't know! The power just keeps splitting into two, and then two again."

The entire room turned to look at Sakura accusingly, even Kent and Touya who had been lost back around 'power signature' and 'Clow magic'.

"Sakura?" Kent said in his 'I know your doing something that can harm you, and I'm going to be a stern father and save you from yourself, whether you like it or not' voice that he had almost never had to use with Sakura.

"Yes, Dad?"

"What's going on?" Uh-oh, same tone of voice, Sakura couldn't see *not* answering him.

"I've been umm," she looked around at the room filled with her protectors, and rushed on, "kindofbeenusingpowerfromthecards!"

"What was that, again?", asked Kero, not quite believing what his cute little ears had told him.

"I've been drawing power from the cards to keep Fiery open," she admitted, more slowly this time, cringing at what was to come.

Kero stiffened in shock and fell like a stone to the floor, the three men at the table yelled: "WHAT??!!", and from behind her Yue spoke. "But Mistress, that is too dangerous!"

~You have no idea how much~, she thought, feeling the power structure branch again.

"Yes it is dangerous, very much so!," she agreed, quickly switching tactics. It *was* possible to use this groups protective instincts against them. "And getting more dangerous by the moment! But I won't close the Fiery until I've healed Syaoran. So will you help me? Or should we stand here and see what happens to me when all the cards have been sucked dry?" This quickly whipped the gumby men into shape, and suddenly getting Syaoran healed so that she could close Fiery was the most important thing. Kent and Touya still didn't know exactly what was going on, but took their cue from the reactions of the other three, Sakura was in danger, the Li kid *must* be healed. No time to waste.

Sakura almost got whiplash from how fast she was placed behind a tense Li Syaoran, and told to: "Heal that gaki, already!"

Soon she was healing Syaoran's back, swiftly working her way down the first cut and starting the second. Unfortunately, despite the severity of the situation, Sakura had to keep jerking her mind away from thoughts like: ~Syaoran's shoulders are just beautiful~, and ~Oh,~ *sigh* ~look at those arms, yumm!~. She hoped no one noticed her drooling, but she could really see the benefits of Syaoran's intensive sword training.

When she was half-way done with third gash, and staring at the nape of his gorgeous neck, she got another shock as the elementals started drawing power from the last rank of cards. They had been getting weaker as power was drawn further down the line, the cards below having only a fraction of the magic as the ones above. Subsequently their power was being drained *much* faster. ~Oh, no! There won't be enough!~ she thought frantically. Wha... What could she do? If she didn't get all the poison Syaoran would still die!! And all this would have been for nothing.

"Quick! Yue hand me the Star Wand!" she ordered. He obeyed like a good little Moon Guardian (well reacted to her desperate tone of voice anyway), and passed it over. Sakura grabbed it with her free hand, no time for finesse! She dove into the spell structure of the Star Wand, had a second of regret, then snapped the spell that was the Sealing Wand of Clow with a ruthless twist of her mind. As the power was sapped from the Key, the physical representation of it cracked and splintered, crumbling into glittery dust. Sakura quickly channeled this new burst of power to the Fiery, giving it just enough to let her finish her task. Then it was done, and not a moment to soon.

Sakura had barely stepped back from the table when she lost control of the Fiery, the flame leapt from her hand to change into the cards' visible form. It swirled into shape, and when it stopped, it's blazing wings unfolded to reveal the Fiery Card.

Syaoran jumped to his feet, and then off the table toward Sakura, landing beside her. He held out his hand and mentally called his sword to him. It darted to his hand from where someone had leaned it against a wall. He then turned to face the Fiery, ready for anything, or so he thought.(AN: Yes, Syaoran is feeling much better, and ready to protect his 'Cherry Blossom' ^_~) But what happened next no one was expecting, except perhaps Sakura.

The Fiery turned to Yue and Kero the only others in the room who might be able to understand and help stop what was happening. If it wasn't to late, but they probably couldn't have stopped it anyway. The Fiery felt a force pulling it back toward the Mistress of the Cards, and looked frantically at The Guardian of the Seal, Kerberos. It's eyes sad the Fiery mouthed a single phrase to Kero: "_Final Test"_. The effect was instantaneous.

"Sakura! NO!!", yelled Kero, "Your not ready! Yue it's the 'Final Test'! *And* she was using power from the cards!! What are we gonna do?!! What are we gonna DO??!!!!" the little Sun Guardian zipped around the room, squeaking in panic.

"What's going on?" demanded Syaoran.

"Final what?" asked Touya.

"Is Sakura okay?," Kent this time.

"Sakura, exactly how many cards were you drawing power from?", even Yue was upset.

"Al-All of them," she gasped, she gave up the fight to stay standing and fell to her knees. The Fiery was being pulled back faster now. Meanwhile Kero had banged into a wall, which shocked him out of his state of blind panic- Mostly.

"Okay, we have to stay calm!!," shouted Kero, "All we have to do is keep Sakura from absorbing any cards at all. If she hasn't absorbed any cards yet we should be okay. We'll just have to get the Fiery back in the book, that's all." The Fiery shook it's head sadly at this, expressing that the plan would not work.

"What? Why?!!" Kero again.

"Because," Sakura explained, since the Fiery couldn't talk to them, "I've already got two cards in me, the Thunder and the Float."

"Shouldn't that just make you stronger?" Yue asked. He and Syaoran had grabbed Fiery and were trying to hold it a way from Sakura. They hadn't been burned yet which was either a testament to the Fiery's current lack of power, or it's cooperation.

"It did at first, but when I used the Thunder to destroy the monsters I couldn't turn it off again, so it drained me."

"Sakura! You can't absorb all these cards with no power of your own! It could kill you!!" Kero was losing it again.

"I know that!" Sakura yelled back.

"Then why did you do it?!" yelled Syaoran.

"Because I love you!"

Everything seemed to stop for a moment at Sakura's *very* loud declaration of affection.

"I couldn't let you die," she admitted into the silence that followed Then they all noticed that the Fiery, Yue, and Syaoran, were all being pulled across the floor toward Sakura, the Fiery dragging the other two along. Behind them on the counter, unnoticed by them all, the Book of Clow silently opened.

To Be Continued ^_^


	11. Eleven

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for some 

tense stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Sorry this one is a little short, I really am trying to make them longer, but this one was hard to write for some reason. ^_^ Also, sorry that this chapter took awhile to post, one of my best beta readers was on vacation.

  
  


Chapter 11:

When we last left our heros:

Sakura had just loudly professed her love to Syaoran, much to every ones shock. Yue and Syaoran were trying to keep the Fiery from being pulled back to Sakura, meanwhile the Book of Clow opened on the counter behind them.

Syaoran and Yue tried to dig their feet in and stop their advance toward Sakura, but the best they could do was slow the Fiery down a little. All to soon they couldn't even do that for the Fiery card disappeared into smoke, then into Sakura.

"Sakura!" yelled Syaoran.

She had tried not to cry out, she really had, she knew that it would only worry everyone in the room and they couldn't do anything to help her at this point. So she tried to be quiet, but when she absorbed the Fiery, it was so much more painful than anything she had ever known before, and a small whimpering cry escaped her. Li Syaoran was on the move almost before the card made it to Sakura, and he was seconds behind it.

"Sakura! No!" he threw his arms around her, trying to protect her from the pain even though he knew he couldn't, the pain was coming from inside her where he could not reach. He was confused about what was going on, he had never heard anything about a 'Final Test' for the one who sealed all the cards, except for the judgment, and Sakura had already passed that, so what was going on? Syaoran had learned much about magic in his short life, and he couldn't even imagine a human body absorbing the power of the Clow Cards and surviving the experience. He felt so useless, how could he protect Sakura? His Cherry Blossom, who had just admitted her love for him, how to keep her safe?

When the pain left her Sakura slumped into Syaoran's embrace, gasping for breath, she didn't want to do that *ever* again. But she knew that it would happen again and, if it had saved Syaoran, then she didn't care. She hugged him a little, ~Yes, at least he will be okay.~ she sighed. Suddenly she stiffened as her tattered magic senses told her something she would really rather not know: The Book of Clow was open. She could feel the cards fighting a losing battle to stay in the book. It wouldn't be long now.

"Alright then," said Kero, relief that Sakura was still alive in his voice, "We just have to keep the rest of the cards in the book. If they can't get out, she can't absorb them." Then he turned to the book. "NO!," he yelled when he saw that not only was the book already open, but it was glowing and shaking from strain. Kero assumed that some of this was the cards trying to stay *in* the book, which was ironic all by itself, but he could also sense that the Book of Clow was..... Coming apart at the seams? ~How can that BE?!?!!~ He started to panic again.

"What ARE we going to DO?!?", he zipped around the kitchen, but was stopped by Yue who plucked him out of the air and answered his question, "We are going to close that book and save our Mistress' life!"

"Yes, okay," said Kero, taking deep breaths, "that's what we'll do." They all turned to look at the book, except for Syaoran who just held Sakura closer.

"Okay, how do we close it?", asked Kent.

"Ummm," Kero ventured, "I don't know?"

"Can't we just go shut the cover?" asked Touya.

"We *might* be able to do that, but I don't know if any of us are strong enough to close it against the force keeping it open, which is essentially Sakura's magic, which is stronger than us.", answered Kero.

"Didn't she say she lost her power?" asked Kent.

"Yes, but when she opened the book the first time it took a little of her power to make itself a magical object again, and anchor it to this plain. I had forgotten that." Yue said, ~How can we close it now?~

"I'm getting a headache," muttered a confused Touya.

They all stared at the book some more, at a loss. Then a last hope dropped from the sky, well from the book anyway. The cards had been listening, and they had a solution of their own, it popped out of the book and immediately took it's true form, falling to the floor. When it landed it started to be pulled toward Sakura like the Fiery. But, unlike the Fiery, this card could handle that, to an extent. The card stood to it's full height, which was kinda short, and planted it's feet firmly *in* the hardwood floor. About six inches below the surface. This card had a childlike stature, standing maybe three feet tall. It was dressed in a pink battle outfit that could be described as 'puffy'. On it's cute little face was a not so cute look of determination.

"Which card is that?" asked Kent.

"The Power Card," answered Kero.

"That's Power?!?!?" father and son exclaimed in mutual disbelief.

Power glared at them out of the corner of it's eye for a moment, before turning it's attention back to the book from whence it came. Steeling itself the Power pulled it's right foot from the floor, moved it a step, then slammed it down again, sending wood-chips flying. Then it picked up it's left foot, repeating this procedure, it made it's way back to the book, and away from Sakura. Behind it the card left a double row of mini-craters in the once pristine kitchen floor. Kent sighed at this sight, well it was about time to remodel the kitchen anyway.

After about five minutes the Power made it to it's destination, where it paused as if trying to decide what to do. Finally it braced one hand on the counter next to the book, put the other hand under the open cover and pulled. For awhile it could not be seen if the Power was making any difference, then the cover moved, not much but it did move.

"It's working," Kero said.

The card continued to close the book centimeter by centimeter, straining with all it's might. Eventually the card had to use both hands but it accomplished it's goal, and the Book of Clow slammed shut with a snap. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, and the Power gave a tiny smile of triumph, it's tiny hands keeping the book closed. It seemed that Sakura was safe for the moment. Someone really should have 'knocked on wood' or something. It wasn't over yet.

To Be Continued ^_^


	12. Twelve

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG ( for some 

tense stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: The beginning of this chapter is from the Power card's point of view. And I don't know everything there is to know about the cards so if I get something wrong: Sorry =)

  
  


Chapter 12:

The Power Card had a unique place in the hierarchy of Clow Cards. It wasn't as strong in *magic* as, say the elemental cards, but none of them could beat it for shear *power* so it was respected. Which was good because it was sensitive about it's height. Hey, it's hard looking like a six year-old! At times the card would even be a little mad at Master Clow for creating it this way, but even then it could see Clow's reasoning; the Power's appearance took foes off-guard, they never expected a threat from something that was seemingly *powerless*.

The Power Card was good at it's job, and it rarely got in fights (with the Fight Card) anymore. The Fight could hardly say that the Power was a lesser card, because of it's size, now that the Power had been used by the Card Mistress to catch the Fight. (AN: Ha!! Go Power!!) Rivalries like that tend to develop when you spent over a century trapped in a book with someone.

The Power Card was cocky and overly confident about the success of this mission. It's smile of triumph melted away when it felt what was happening to the magic book under it's hands. The book was 'shifting' fazing in and out of this plain, the spells that kept it here and the ones that held in together were shattering. Power's eyes widened in panic, it frantically tried to get one of the guardians' attention, wishing that Master Clow had given it a voice as well as more in the height department. But the two guardians thought that the problem was solved, if only temporarily, and had turned to assess the health of their Mistress, so they could not see the Powers frantic attempts to catch their eyes. Finally it had to lift one of it's feet out of the floor and kick the cabinet in front of it. At the loud banging everyone turned their attention back to the Power, and the book.

"What is it?" asked the Sun Guardian.

The Power Card nodded toward the book, trying to convey that there was something wrong, but the guardians still didn't get it!! Stupid Fluff-ball!! Ditzy Blond!! How could it get through to them? Wait! Maybe it could talk to the Card Mistress like the Fiery had! Worth a try.

~Mistress~ the Power said trying to propel it's voice across the room to Sakura in the way that the cards spoke to each other. ~This is Power, tell the Guardian of the Sun and the Guardian of the Moon that the Book of Clow is fazing.~ Had it worked?

"Kero,"said the Card Mistress, "Power says that the book is 'fazing'" Yes! It had worked!

"Fazing how?" The Guardian Beast of the Seal directed this comment to the Power, but the answer came back filtered through the Mistress of the Cards.

"It says that the book itself is fazing in and out of this plain, and the spells that held it together are unraveling." Sakura said, eyes wide.

"Oh No!," exclaimed Kerberos, "I thought I saw something like that earlier. I was hoping I was wrong."

"What's wrong now?" asked Li Syaoran tiredly, "I thought the book was built to contain the cards, how is it failing?"

"Well," explained the Beast of the Seal, "The book was built to 'hold' the cards until a sorcerer who was powerful enough to activate the book, and the cards, came along. Then the cards were supposed to escape, and once they were captured and back in the book it wouldn't matter because the cards would be under the Captors control."

"What!!" Everyone was surprised at that, except the Moon Guardian, of course.

"The Clow Cards were *supposed* to escape?" demanded Master Syaoran.

"Um.... Yes? It was one of the things they were designed to do," answered the Sun Guardian, "But we really don't have time for this now, so save your questions for later."--Random Reluctant Agreement (RRA) here.

"Okay," sighed Kent, "So, what do we do now?"

The Guardian Beast of the Seal got a defeated look on his little face, which didn't make Power feel better at all. The Guardians had to know a way out of this right?

"I don't know," Wrong! "This has never happened before," Kerberos continued, "I don't think that the book was even meant to last this long. _Master Clow could never get the times in his visions right_." the last part was whispered so no one in the room could hear it, but Power heard it anyway, and wondered what it meant. Had Master Clow foreseen some of the events that would take place in this present day? Was *that* why the cards had been sealed in the book?

The book beneath Power's hands lurched, and the card sighed. It really didn't matter now why the cards were in this place and time, in moments they would become a part of Mistress Sakura and the point would be moot. The book was disintegrating around the cards it held, there was nothing any of them could do now, this was going to happen. Power sent a fast message to the rest of the cards, telling them what the situation was and to try not to all be absorbed into the Card Mistress at once. That would surly kill her, and even though she would probably die anyway, she was their Mistress and the least they could do was give her a fighting chance. ~So, I'll be the first one in, since I'm already out here. The rest of you hold out as long as you can~, it finished. Now to warn the Mistress. ~Mistress Sakura.......~

  
  


Across The Room Snuggled-Up To Li Syaoran:

~Mistress Sakura,~ Sakura heard the Power's voice in her mind again, the voice was sort of little-girlish, which fit with the image, ~I cannot hold the Clow Book any longer, I am sorry Mistress.~

~It's okay Power~, she replied, strangely calm now, at least it would be over, ~I know you and the other cards have tried, thank them for me?~

~Yes, Mistress. Sorry....~ And then the Book of Clow exploded, sending the Power card back ten feet and all the Clow Cards rustling in the air. The Power had been right to expect that it would go first, the card couldn't even get up again before the force that was effecting all the cards pulled it the last remaining feet toward the Card Mistress, then it was gone, leaving Sakura trying not to scream again. But compared to some of the other cards the Power was absorbed with a whimper, not a bang.

Everyone ducked, not knowing what to expect. It was a good thing they did for some of the cards put up a spectacular resistance. The Sword Card reverted to it's true form and adjusted it's trajectory so that it was pulled over Sakura, instead of crashing into her, it hit the wall (of the poor defenseless kitchen) with enough force to send it a foot into a support-beam. The Arrow Card must have thought this a grand idea, for it was soon quavering in the wall next to the Sword.

Some cards tried to stop others as well, the Wood quickly created a net of branches both to secure it to the floor and to catch other cards has the flew past. And the Shield card formed around Sakura and managed to bounce away a few cards, giving Sakura precious seconds to catch her breath, before it too was gone. Meanwhile the Sword card and the arrow card, got pulled out of the wall, and vanished. 

Some cards' attempts were less than successful. The Through tried to go *through* Sakura (and Syaoran by proximity), needless to say it did not come out the other side. The Fly opened it's wings intending to create drag to slow it down, but it forgot how big it's true form was (stupid bird-brain) and one of it's wings got stuck in the ceiling, it was so shocked that it turned to smoke right there and was absorbed. (AN: Sakura's kitchen will *never* be the same ^_~) And, perhaps the most spectacular disaster, was the Freeze. This less then genius card tried to *freeze* it's self in place, which froze the Wood card (who had managed to catch the rest of the cards). So, with a echoing sound of shattering ice, the Wood's frozen branches broke, sending the rest of the Clow Cards crashing toward their Mistress, all at once.

  
  


Li Syaoran:

Syaoran tried, once again, to protect Sakura with his body, to no avail. The cards either went right trough him like he wasn't there, or were swept around him in the whirlwind that was being created by all the fuss. The point was that he could not stop them, all he could do was hold her and listen to her screams, which soon diminished into moaning sobs of pain, until she finally lost consciousness. His heart ached with the need to help her, to ease her pain in any way possible. He felt so useless to her now. ~How much longer can this possibly last?~ he thought in despair.

And then..... It was over. In the silence after the last card was absorbed Syaoran held his Sakura close to his heart. Was it really over? (AN: Not quite)

Suddenly Syaoran stumbled onto the most emotionally devastating moment of his young life, for as he held his Cherry Blossom so close to himself, he felt her heart shudder...... and stop.

To Be Continued ^_^


	13. Thirteen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (tense stuff

again ^_^)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 13:

"Sakura! NO!!" Syaoran yelled, causing the rest of the 'people' in the room to jump.

"You can't do this to me Sakura!! If you die I'll follow you into the next world and KILL YOU!!!!"** he gently laid her on the ground and checked to see if she was still breathing...she wasn't.

"What going on?" asked an alarmed Kent.

"Her heart stopped, she's not breathing."Syaoran said simply..........And, the marshmallow men panicked, each in their own ways. Touya fainted, Kent frantically tried to find the phone to call 911 (except that, the ummm, phone, had been, uh, *frozen* by the Freeze ^_^), Kero started to zip about (again) in distress, and Yue reverted back to Yukito from shock. Yukito took one look at the scene, and, uh, fainted, landing in a heap beside his *cough* best friend, Touya.

Fortunately, for everyone, Syaoran managed to push his panic aside and let the logic part of his brain (the part that hadn't been working earlier) take over, mostly. ~Okay~, he thought, ~how to help someone who's heart has stopped? Let's see, CPR?~

~But I don't know how to do CPR!!~ screamed the part of his brain that will now be referred to as 'Panic'.

~I *know* that!~ said Logic, impatiently, ~I'm looking at options!~

~Oh,~ said Panic, ~That's not an option though! I can't do it!~

~Yes that has been established.~

~Hurry up!~, Panic again, ~she's gonna DIE!!~

~Technically, she is already dead.~ Logic pointed out.

~Not Helping!!~ screeched Panic.

~Okay! Okay! Calm down! Uh, well maybe not, you are 'Panic' after all, just don't panic so loudly, I'm trying to save the woman we, I mean *I* love.~

Agreement from Panic.

~Okay, what else can save a person in this condition? Magic maybe? Her current predicament was *caused* by magic.~ they both thought for a moment.

~Well~, said Panic tentatively, ~At the hospital they use electric paddles to re-start hearts.~

~So what we need is magic electricity?~

~Sounds right~, agreed Panic.

~Okay then, let's do it!~

The whole 'conversation' had taken scant seconds and, when Syaoran came back to himself, he knew what to do. He stood up and held out a hand, catching his sword (which he had dropped when trying to hold back Fiery) as it obediently jumped to him.

"Light Come Forth!!" (AN: Whoops! Sorry, wrong Anime, that's from Slayers ^_~)

"Force, Know My Plight!......Release The Light!.......LIGHTNING!!" Syaoran called out, bringing his sword, now crackling with lighting down it's length, gracefully around until it pointed at Sakura. ~Have to be careful~, he thought, ~Frying my Cherry Blossom at this point would *definitely* be counter-productive.~

Syaoran watched the magic lightning trace across the space between them and hit her in the chest, hopefully not causing any more damage. ~Please be okay Sakura.~

  
  


Zipping About The Kitchen:

This was the third consecutive time that evening that The Guardian Beast of The (now nonexistent) Seal had 'panicked'. Usually this did not happen to the dignified Sun Guardian, but it had, admittedly, been a difficult night. So this erratic behavior could be dismissed as an anomaly, which Kero would do as soon as he had time. Right now he was busy panicking. At least he seemed to come out of it easily, the first time by bouncing off a wall, the second when Yue caught him, and the third when Syaoran's cry of 'LIGHTNING!' rang through the kitchen.

"Wh..What?" Kero stopped flying at the yell, followed by the bright light dancing on the blade of Syaoran's sword. As he was processing what he saw Kent (who had just returned from his futile search for a phone that had escaped the nights events) enter the kitchen.

"What's he doing now?" Kent asked looking pointedly at Syaoran. Kero thought rapidly, then smiled when he realized what was happening.

"He's using lightning to re-start Sakura's heart. Since it's magic lightning, it should work," Kero nodded in approval, maybe Sakura *would* be okay, and maybe that gaki *was* good for something after all.

When the electricity struck the Card Mistress' inert body, all the people in the room (well the conscious ones anyway) held their breath. Had it worked?

To Be Continued ^_^

(AN: Just Kidding!!!! I wouldn't do something like that to you, now would I? ^_~)

The girl was jerked back to the land of the living when a sudden shock set all her systems on 'active' again. She sat up coughing and gasping for breath. From somewhere in front of her she heard something clatter to the floor. (AN: There goes Syaoran's sword again. He should really take better care of that thing!)

"Sakura! Your Alive!!" this came from the same direction as the clattering noise, it was soon followed by a pair of warm arms encircling her. She wasn't sure who this guy was, but he had a wonderful hug. ~Very comforting~ she thought. The thought echoed through her mind strangely like *other* voices were repeating it. The girl drew her eyebrows together in confusion, what was going on? Where was she? She put her head down on the huggers naked chest, and sighed. (AN: Remember? Syaoran's shirtless! *giggle*) This guy seemed nice. Maybe he could help her?

"Sakura? Sakura, are you okay?" the voice asked again. A hand was placed under her chin as Mr. Nice Guy slowly turned her face upward. Her eyes met a gaze of gorgeous brown. (AN: Syaoran's eyes *are* brown, right?) The rest of his face was handsome as well, the sight of it stirred strange feelings in her, and suddenly she had to know something.

"Who are you?"

To Be Continued ^_^ (AN: This time for real:)

**This is almost a quote from a book by: L.J. Smith, it's not quite a direct quote because of the different names and I'm not sure if I got the wording *exactly* right.


	14. Fourteen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

amnesia ^_^)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 14:

"Who are you?" Sakura asked.

When Syaoran heard his love utter this phrase, his heart skipped a beat- again. If Sakura didn't stop shocking him this way he would be dead before he reached his 20's!

"You don't remember me, Sakura?" he ventured.

"I'm Sakura?" Oh dear!!

"Um, ya. That's your name, Sakura."

"Oh, I like that name, it's pretty," she smiled. "What was your name again?"

"Li, Li Syaoran."

She smiled again. ~Well, at least she has the same smile~, he thought. Her warm smile still turned him to goo. ^_^

"What's going on, kid? She okay?" Kero landed on Syaoran's shoulder. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw him, then she giggled.

"Oh, how cute! That stuffed animal can talk!" she giggled again.

"Sakura?" Kero questioned, his fuzzy little face twisting into a look of total confusion.

"She doesn't remember anything." explained Syaoran.

"Not anything?" Kero was alarmed (AN: Amazing that he has any alarm left, no?)

"Nothing," Syaoran confirmed, whispering, "Not even her name, I had to tell her."

"Oh dear!!" Kero almost fainted, falling off of Syaoran's shoulder, but caught himself on Syaoran's ear.

"Ow! Let go fluff-ball!!"

"Okay, sorry! Yeesh!" Kero took to floating above Syaoran's shoulder instead. He sighed, they were in a pickle again.

  
  


Split Personality #1, Yukito:

Groaning, Yukito sat up, rubbing his aching head. Then he took stock of the situation. Li Syaoran was holding the Card Mistress (good she was okay) as they both sat on the floor. The Guardian of the Sun was hovering nearby. And Kent was standing silently behind the group, as yet unnoticed. They all looked worried (except for Sakura who looked kinda happy), something else must be wrong. They might need the Moon Guardian again.

"She can't remember *anything*?" Kent's worried voice drifted back to him. They *definitely* needed the Moon Guardian.

Sighing, Yukito searched his mind for any trace of Yue, but only found a 'Do Not Disturb' sign hung in the back of his psyche. ~Yue must still be in shock or something~, he thought. This was understandable, Yukito was still kind of shocked himself. He had learned a lot of shocking things today. Oh, Yukito knew more than anyone thought he did, but he hadn't known everything. He knew the basics, like about Yue, and who he, 'they', really were. He knew about Sakura being the Card Mistress, and Kero the Guardian of the Sun and Seal. He even knew about Touya, and the power he had given up so that Yue/Yukito could live. But, because Yue went to such effort to keep his memories and thoughts away from his Yukito-self, he had never known the reason and history *behind* these facts. That had changed tonight. When events had really started moving, around when Kero freaked out the first time, Yue's unshakable control had slipped, taking the barriers with it. And then Yukito *knew*. About Clow and the Cards and the 'final test', major freak-ability factor there. For once, since Yukito started changing to Yue, he had been truly glad he was not the one in charge. But now, here he was, in charge again, and there was a crisis brewing. Not good. ~Yue!~ he yelled into their shared mind, ~Get out here! You Are Needed!~

  
  


Split Personality #2, Yue:

Yue was trying to ignore everything, he really didn't want to lose another Master. And Mistress Sakura was a friend as well, something he had never had before, except for Touya (but that really wasn't a *cough* friendship). So maybe if he ignored it, it would go away, and he could pretend that Sakura was fine. Nope, no problems there. But, Yue's mini-bout of denial was not to be, for Yukito wasn't having any of it.

~Yue! Get out here! You Are Needed!~

~Needed by who?! Mistress Sakura is dead!~

~No, she's not.~

~She isn't?~ Yue muttered hopefully.

~No, Syaoran saved her somehow~

~Oh, that's good. Everything is alright then?~

~Well, no, she's alive, but she can't remember anything~

~Oh, dear!!~

~Exactly! So they need you~

~Okay, move over, I'm driving.~

For some reason it never occurred to Yue to question Yukito's sudden knowledge of events. (AN: And that ties-up that potential plot-hole:)

  
  


Little Miss Memory-less:

The girl, also known as 'Sakura', was awfully confused, albeit in a cheerful kind of way. It seemed impossible not to be cheerful when being held by this Syaoran fellow. But strange stuff was going on, not the least of which was that she remembered nothing about herself or these people who seemed to know her. There were also the worrying 'others' in her mind, most of the time they echoed her thoughts or speech, but sometimes they would talk on their own. Which was getting disconcerting. Maybe she should mention it to *sigh* Syaoran.

"Syaoran?"

"Yes?" he answered her.

"Um, something strange happened here, right?"

"Yes something very strange, why?"

"Well, you see, in my head, there are, um, voices, that aren't mine." she said awkwardly.

Syaoran got a confused and concerned look in his beautiful eyes, "What do they say?"

She listened for a moment, then answered him, "Well, I can't tell how many there are, but most of them just seem to repeat what I think or say."

"Some of the Cards must be in shock, not uncommon, tonight." Sakura thought she heard the cute stuffed animal mumble.

"What do the rest of them say?" prompted Syaoran.

"A few of them are arguing."

"With you?"

"No, they're fighting with each other, they seem to be blaming one of them for something they did," she thought (listened) a moment, "Yes, they are yelling at Freeze, something was it's fault."

"Makes sense."

"It does?" she wondered.

"Kind of," answered Syaoran, "But don't worry about that right now. Are they saying anything else?"

"The only other thing I can make out is a voice, it sounds like a breeze, warning me about danger."

"Danger?"

"Yes," she squinted, trying to hear the voice, "It says that the winds are whispering of a great danger, that is coming to hurt their 'Mistress', whoever that is."

"That's you."

"Me?"

"Yes"

"Mistress of what?"

"The Clow Cards."

"Oh, what are those?"

"Um, Magic."

"Really?! That sounds fun! How does it work?"

"Well," Syaoran looked a little uncomfortable, "We really shouldn't talk about that right now. You most likely can't do any magic until you get your memories back anyway."

"Oh," *sigh*

"Does the Windy say. . ."

"The Windy?"

"That breezy voice."

"Oh, okay."

"Does the Windy say how long we have before this 'danger' gets here?" Syaoran finished.

"Not really."

"Can you ask?"

"Hmm, I don't know," she considered, "I'll try, sounds fun!"she closed her eyes.

~Um, hello? Windy?~ she sent the message floating to the back of her mind. It took a little while, then she got a response:

~Yes, Mistress?~

~How long before the danger gets here?~

~Two hours at most.~ it answered, ~The danger is tracking you as we speak.~

~Thank you.~ Sakura opened her eyes again.

"Windy said 'two hours' until it get's here" she reported.

"Two hours until what gets here?" asked a new voice. Sakura looked up to see that the voice had come from a being that was now standing next to Kent (who said he was her father) behind Syaoran. The new one had wings (very pretty), elfin features, and long white hair.

"We don't know what it is," Syaoran answered him, "We only know that it's dangerous and that it will be here in two hours. Windy told us that much."

"Does Windy know if we can beat this without the Mistress?" asked the winged one.

"Hold on, I'll ask." Sakura said, soon she answered him. But it was not the answer they were hoping for.

"The Windy says no, you would not be able to beat the coming darkness without the Card Mistress."

"Great!" exclaimed the stuffed animal, "Just great! We're toast!"

To Be Continued ^_^


	15. Fifteen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

panicking)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Note: If Syaoran seems a little OOC (Out Of Character) in this chapter, Sorry! ^_^

  
  


Chapter 15:

And now, it's time for Major-Kerberos-Freak-Out-Number-Four:

"We're toast! What are we gonna DO??!!", he squeaked. Syaoran quickly grabbed him *before* he started zipping about.

"You will NOT freak-out again Fluff-ball, we need you, understood?"

Kero nodded his understanding, his itty-bitty nose twitching in distress. "Okay, I'm okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"I have come to a sudden and very logical decision," explained Li Syaoran, letting go of Kero.

"And what is that?" asked Yue.

"We are going to, calmly, get everyone together and...... Run Away!"

"Is that all?" asked Kero "Shouldn't there be something more to this plan?"

"We are going to run away..... Very Quickly!"

"Sounds good to me", declared Kero.

"Will it be fun?" questioned Sakura.

"Um, where will we be running to?", asked the voice-of-reason, otherwise known as Kent.

"Good question," said Touya, from the floor where he had regained consciousness only moments after Yue.

Everyone thought about that, they needed a place they could stay long enough for Sakura to get her memories, and her magic, back. Where would that be?

"My place?" suggested Yue.

"No, it would only take a little longer to find us there," deduced Syaoran.

"The Park?" asked Kero.

"That's where we came from, Fluff-Ball! It probably started tracking us from there!" Syaoran shot down that plan also.

"The skating rink?" said Touya.

Everyone stopped thinking to look at Touya oddly. Syaoran wasn't sure such a suggestion deserved a response.

"How did you come up with that?!" asked Kero.

"Um," Touya thought a moment, "Head injury?"

"Does anyone have a viable suggestion?!" Syaoran was practically yelling now, the stress was really getting to him.

"Well, you haven't suggested anything!!" Kero yelled back.

"Well..... I came up with the plan!!"

"Some plan! We don't even have a destination!!"

"Have *you* got a better plan?!!"

"No!!"

"Then shut-up and help me think of a safe place to flee-in-terror to!"

Everyone was quiet as they thought some more.

"Okay," Kent finally said, "Let's break it down. What are we looking for?"

"Well, it needs to be safe." Kero said, everyone nodded.

"And in a place that the danger can't find, at least not for awhile." added Syaoran, "We need to be safe long enough for Sakura to get her memories back."

"So you think her memories will come back?" Kent asked him.

"I hope so. If not, there is a spell I can try, but it's risky, and it would take awhile. We would need a safe place to do that too."

"What spell is this?" Kero asked skeptically.

"What do you mean by 'get her memories back'? What can't she remember?" asked Touya, they all ignored him.

"We don't have time for me to explain the spell right now, Kero!" said Syaoran.

"How long will the spell take?" asked Kent.

"Anywhere from 3 to 12 hours, it depends."

"Okay, so we need a place to hide for up to 12 hours?"

"I guess," said Syaoran.

"No, longer than that," Kero contradicted, "She used-up all her magic remember? It will take her at least 24 hours to re-charge."

"Oh, right."

They all thought some more.

"Windy says that it is coming faster," Sakura reported into the silence a few moments later, "Maybe an hour and a half now."

Still more thinking.

"Well, since this 'Windy' knows so much, why don't we ask it where to hide?" said Touya. Making up for his earlier suggestion by proposing a workable one.

"That's a good idea. Sakura?" Syaoran said, "Can you ask Windy that?"

"Sure!" Sakura got that 'I'm-talking-with-a-Magic-Card-inside-my-head' look, which Syaoran was becoming familiar with, he decided it was cute. So, he silently added this new expression to many others he kept in his heart, he never tired of looking at his Cheery Blossom.

"Windy doesn't know of a place that will be completely safe from this darkness," Sakura relaid, "But it wants to know why you don't use the Guardian Barrier of Protection spell."

"Well," said Kero, "That would be an option, except both Yue and I would have to be in our true forms to cast it. And I can't get to my true form unless I get a boost of magic from Sakura."

They all sighed, so much for that idea. They thought some more.

"I was wondering," said Kent, "Yue is in his true form, right?"

Kero and Yue nodded.

"But, since Sakura doesn't have magic to spare right now, Yue isn't using Sakura's magic to stay in his true form?"

More nods all around.

"So, where is Yue getting the energy from?"

"Well, he's kind of getting it from me," Touya admitted.

"You have magic too?" Kent asked, not sure if he would be surprised at this point if both of his offspring were Great-and-Powerful sorcerers.

"No, it's not magic exactly," Touya clarified, "I had the ability to see... well... ghosts and stuff."

"Had?"

"Well, now that Yue is using that energy to live, I don't have it anymore, so no more ghosts."

"Oh. Can't Kero use someone else's energy to transform also?"

"Maybe, except I have a much closer tie to the Card Mistress than Yue, it might not work." Kero said.

"Could we try it though?" asked Kent.

"Hmmm," Kero thought, "Well, I couldn't use Touya's energy, Yue's doing that. And Syaoran needs to save his energy for the spell to help Sakura, and to defend us if that thing does find us. So, who else is there?"

"Me," said Kent.

"You? But you are not magical at all! I would have sensed it by now."

"Well, I don't have any 'magic' magic, that's true. But I see ghosts all the time!"

It's got to be painful to face-vault from four feet in the air. Let's just be grateful that Kero is 'stuffed with fluff'.**

To Be Continued ^_^

**No I don't own Winnie-the-Pooh either.


	16. Sixteen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

whatever)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 16:

Syaoran was cold. Around him he felt a fine mist, if he had to breath here the humidity would have made it difficult. But he didn't have to breath, even though he felt his lungs expand and exhale, he knew it was just a mental projection of his body, his mind expected him to breath, so he did.

Next he opened his eyes to take in a visual of his new surroundings. Above him and to all sides swirled a thick pink fog, the 'ground' below him was the same color, but solid. The scenery made sense to Syaoran, because he was in Sakura's mind. The pink fog was almost the same shade as Sakura's magical aura, and her memories were rather cloudy at the moment---- which would explain the fog.

Unbeknownst to Kero, or the others for that matter, was that he had never done this spell. He had heard about it, read about it, and even seen it done once (but he decided not to count the last, since it had ended kind of badly). He had every confidence that he could do this without turning Sakura, himself, or both of them, into vegetables. He had decided not to share his inexperience with Sakura's Family and Guardians, it would just make them worry. (AN: We wouldn't want that, now would we? ^^)

Syaoran searched with his senses for the direction that felt the most 'Sakura' to him...... ~There, that way!~ He started off on that heading, hoping that the others were close to getting the protection barrier up. He had a feeling this was going to take awhile.

  
  


Syaoran's Apartment:

Touya looked nervously around that baka Li's living-room, then back to his father, who was unconscious on the sofa. They had come here soon after they made the decision of what to do. Syaoran had said he had 'supplies' here, that he needed for the spell. So, off they had trooped to the gaki's residence, only pausing long enough to grab a change of clothes and some necessities. Soon after their arrival, Syaoran had taken charge, ordering Kero to 'borrow' some energy from Kent, and get started on the barrier of protection. Meanwhile the gaki had given Sakura a sleeping potion and had her lay in the middle of a magic circle he had hastily drawn on the kitchen floor with chalk, then surrounded it with odd looking candles. Very quickly Syaoran was sitting beside a sleeping Sakura in the magic circle, Kent had given Kero enough power to change in to his true form, and the Guardians had gone trancey again. Leaving Touya with an unconscious father, two sorcerers asleep in the middle of a chalk circle, and two tranced out Guardians. When had his life suddenly taken a turn for the weird and unexplainable? *sigh*

Touya looked over at the Guardians again, wondering how much longer it would take them. There they sat on the carpet, maybe two feet from each other. Both had their eyes closed, ~Which is turning out to be a theme around here~ he thought. No one had moved for at least 15 minutes, and Touya was starting to freak-out a little. How long did it take to put up a barrier of protection anyway!?! 

Perhaps adding to his discomfort was the Sun Guardian's appearance. He was sitting in a room with a magical *Lion* who had *Huge Wings* and *Big Teeth*. But that was no reason to be upset, right? RIGHT? (AN: Right! Let us be happy that Touya doesn't know that the *Lion* can breath fire! ^_^ Umm, Kero can do that right?)

Touya moved to a chair a little farther away from the *Lion* and settled in to wait for something, anything, to happen.

  
  


In The Land Of The Happy Pink Fog:

Syaoran was getting tired, even though he knew that 'tired' in this place was relative. He had no idea how long he had been there, or how long he had been walking. He had, however, run into Sakura, but never the *right* Sakura. The first had been a Sakura aged about 6 years, she had wanted him to play. Then there came a 10 year old Sakura who swiftly roller-bladed by, and disappeared again into that blasted pink fog leaving eddies behind her. (AN: I guess the fog is starting to bother our hero ^^)

The most recent Sakura sighting had been of a time right before she met him. Needless to say, she had not recognized him, but he took this as a sign he was getting closer to his goal. If she was getting older as he went along, then he would soon get to the Card Mistress Sakura (which he hoped would be her true-self). That was what he needed to find in order to help her. Syaoran tried to stay optimistic about his ability to notice her true-self for what it was when he found it. Or when she found him, he sighed as another Sakura came skipping out of the fog. Was this the one? Nope. Although she was a Card Captor (as evidenced by the presence of the Sealing Wand, in it's first form, and the silly battle outfit she was wearing) She still did not recognize him. This encounter was kind of entertaining though. Her outfit resembled nothing so much as a jester's costume, it was blue and white, complete with a ridiculous hat and, Syaoran squinted in disbelief, bells! Little gold bells, on her hat, outfit, *and* on the turned-up toes of her shoes!! (AN: Have you guessed the battle outfit yet?? ^_~)

~Who are you?~ she asked.

~I'm Li Syaoran, a friend.~ he returned.

~Oh~ she paused, ~But I don't know you!~

~I'm....uhhh... a friend you haven't meet yet.~

~Um, okay!~ she thought for a moment, then smiled ~Do you want to come help me capture the Watery Card?~

~No, sorry, I can't. I'm looking for someone.~

~You, sure? I bet it will be fun!~

~Ya, I'm sure. You go on without me.~

~Okay! It was nice meeting you!~

~You too~ he agreed as she turned and skipped back into the fog. Then he sighed, Sakura was a wonderful person (although this one had seemed a little too friendly) at any age. But he preferred *his* Sakura, the one who had fought by his side for years, and the one he loved.

Would he ever find her again?

To Be Continued ^_^


	17. Seventeen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

fogginess, the 

pink kind ^_~)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 17:

Syaoran continued walking, and tried to keep his hopes up. He *had* to run into the right Sakura eventually. But for the last little while he hadn't seen or heard anything. His whole world consisted of the **_PINK FOG_** that was really starting to get on his nerves. It wasn't that it was a bad color, per say, but it was *everywhere*, it's pink-cotton-candy fluffiness was becoming cloying.

~If only there was something to break the monotony~, he thought, sighing. Then he heard a noise off to his right, and stopped to listen more closely. It sounded like...... talking?

~Stupid Block-Of-Ice! Is your head frozen solid?!~ (nope, that wasn't talking, that was yelling;) ~ How could you do that?! I *had* over *half* the Cards caught in my branches! I could have held them away from the Mistress! But NOOOOOOO!!! You had to mess it up with that reckless stunt you pulled!!~ screamed a voice Syaoran decided must be the Wood Card. He started walking toward the voices. It made sense that the Cards would end-up here. He wondered if they were all together. He got his answer as soon as the odd group appeared to him out of clouds of pink mist. It was the Clow Cards, all in their visible forms, and all arguing. Syaoran paused to see what was going on.

~It's not like it was all MY fault!!~ defended the Freeze, ~I thought it would work! Besides I'm not the only one who messed up!~ it gestured toward the Fly, who's huge form was huddled off to the side.

~Yes but the Fly's mistake only caused itself to be absorbed. You were the cause of over 30 Cards being absorbed at the *Same Time*!!~ some other Cards mumbled their agreement to this statement.

~Fine! I know when I'm not wanted!!~ with that the Freeze changed to it's card form and fell to the ground.

~Now look what you've done!~ yelled Power, ~The Freeze will probably sulk for hours! And we need to stick together and figure out how to help the Mistress!~

~Who said you where in charge, anyway?~ asked the Fight, in a nasty voice.

~I'm not saying I'm in charge!~, Power denied, ~I'm only pointing out that we need to work together!~

~Good! 'Cause you're too short to be in charge of anything!~

~AM NOT!~

~ARE TOO!~

~I am not! I got the book closed didn't I?~

~Yeah, but I bet your lack-of-height was the reason you couldn't keep it closed!!~

~WAS NOT!~

~WAS TOO!~

~Not-Not-Not!!~, Power stamped one tiny foot. ~Take it BACK!!~

~NO!~

~YES!~

~NO!~

~YES!~

~NO, I WON'T!~

~Fine then! I'LL MAKE YOU!!~ with this the Power lunged at the Fight, determined to yank it's weird lookin' pony-tails out by the roots. It was then that Syaoran decided to *take charge*. (AN: Go Syaoran!! *giggle*)

~STOP!!~ he yelled at the errant Clow Cards. They all turned to him in shock.

~Oh! Mater Syaoran! Hi!~ said Power, bitting it's lower lip and staring at the ground, abashed. Fight folded it's arms with a sigh of defeated anger, and looked the other way.

Syaoran glared at the pair, then looked around at the rest of the assembled group. He had thought they were all there but, on closer examination, he noticed that some of the Cards were missing.

~Where are the rest of the Cards?~ he asked.

~Well~ said Power, ~Windy told us that we needed to find the *right* Sakura, so we all found one and brought it back here. The others haven't returned yet.~

~Where are the Sakuras you brought back?~ Syaoran questioned, maybe his search was over!

~They' re on the lee of the Fly~ Power gestured with it's head in said direction.

So Syaoran walked around the still form of the Fly Card (it looked like it was sleeping) to see what was on the other side.

When he got there, he was a little daunted by what he found.

  
  


On The Chair Farthest From The *Lion*:

Touya was still at a loss. And things kept getting stranger. For example, he could swear he was seeing fog, _pink fog_, in the kitchen, swirling about the Card Captors, where no fog had formed before. And the Guardians had long since started to glow. At first the glow was contained closely around each of them, purple for Yue, gold for Kero. Then it started to grow until both were surrounded by an eerie mixture of both colors. Finally the mixture had formed into a dome around the Guardians, and started to expand outwards.

After a few panicked moments, when the glow got close to his unconscious father, Touya had decided that this must be the Barrier of Protection that was the goal of this little operation. But he still did not trust it with his father, so went and stood where the glow would impact him before it got to Kent. He soon realized that his fears were unfounded, for as the dome of light passed him all he felt was a slight tingle. So Touya waited for the glow to expand past his chosen chair then went to sit down again.

Now they were getting somewhere. Soon the Barrier would be finished, and they would be safe, for a while at least. Then all they could do was wait for Syaoran to finish the spell. He wondered how the gaki was coming along with said spell. 

Touya sat back and happily thought of things he would do to that Li kid, if Sakura didn't get 100% better. (AN: Let's hope, for Syaoran's sake, that the spell works! ^_~)

To Be Continued ^_^


	18. Eighteen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

too many Sakura's)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author Notes: Parts of this chapter will be from various Cards' point of view, cause it's fun! ^_~

  
  


Chapter 18:

  
  


Power Card:

As Master Syaoran made his way past the Fly Card, Power looked down at it's feet again, frowning at the delicate slippers it saw there. The Card was a little embarrassed at it's behavior, Power really hadn't meant to battle with the Fight Card like that. It *had* become a lot better at controlling it's temper, over the last few years, so it finally decided to blame it on stress and drop the subject. It would just have to be more careful in the future.

The Power Card, having now rationalized it's actions, followed Master Syaoran around the Fly. It had to do some quick back-peddling to avoid slamming into the Card Captor, when it came upon him, for he had stopped just out of sight around the big bird.

Curious, the card peeked around Master Syaoran to see what had made him stop. What it saw wasn't that surprising to Power, but only because it had seen it just moments before. There were about 20 of them, by the Power's best estimation, huddled in a loose group beside the Fly. Some of them were different ages, the youngest looked about 2, but half of them appeared to be the same age. These were Mistress Sakura's Card Captor selves, and they were all dressed in 'interesting' outfits. Power's eyes tracked to the Sakura it had brought back from it's own 'Sakura Hunt', she was wearing a black and pink outfit that the Twins had recognized. All the Cards remembered which silly battle outfit the Mistress had been wearing when they were caught. It had been a lively subject to talk about while whiling away a boring afternoon in the Book. Power was almost sad that the Card Captor had been wearing only her school uniform at it's own capture, hardly an interesting ensemble.

The way that Master Syaoran was still standing there, frozen, made Power wonder if too much Sakura was a *good* thing. That many of the Card Mistress was definitely a little disturbing. Especially the 2 year old, who had taken to crying. The card pondered how Master Syaoran was taking the sight. (AN: Let's see, shall we? =)

  
  


Syaoran:

Seeing all those Sakura's, at least the ones from after he met her, brought back a lot of memories. Most of which were pleasant. Some of which were not. Card Captoring was *very* dangerous, and there had been a few close calls, these he would have preferred not to remember.

~Get a grip, Syaoran~ he told himself, ~You have work to do. He shook off the memories and tried to look at the Sakuras closer, trying to decide if one of them felt more 'Sakura' than the others. No luck, *sigh*. Well, at least he knew that none of these was the right Sakura, he would just have to keep looking.

Syaoran turned around and finding the Power behind him said:

~I'm going out to look some more, we need to find the right Sakura so I can help her get her memories back~

~Yes~ said Power, ~The Windy mentioned it~ Sometimes the Windy was a little freaky. It knew too much.

~Um, okay. I'll be back, and~ he sighed again, ~I'll bring any Sakuras I find.~ Power nodded it's understanding.

As Syaoran walked back into the pink mist, that he was beginning to thing of as 'smog' instead of 'fog', he felt a tingle pass by him. ~Good, they've got the Barrier up! Now if only I could find her...~

  
  


Sakura-en-mass:

_They all watched the figure retreating into the Pink._

Sakura-in-Blue----- Isn't he cute Sakura? I saw him earlier!

__Sakura-in-Pink w/ cat ears-- I don't know about the 'cute' part. He was kinda mean to me when I caught Thunder. And, he tried to take the Cards I had!

Another Sakura-in-Pink---- He did help get the Time Card.

Sakura-in-School Uniform----- Ya, then he kept it!

Sakura-in-Blue---- You guys know him?

About half the Skauras-- Yes!

Sakura-in-Red-- He can be really sweet, you know. He was very helpful catching the Fiery. He drained his energy using the Time Card to help me.

Yet Another Sakura-in-Pink----- He helped with the Fight too.

Sakura-in-ice-skates----- And the Freeze.

Another Sakura-in-Red-- And the Snowy.

Sakura-in-Yellow---- Well, I like him.

Another Sakura-in-School Uniform-- Me Too!

Sakura-in-Blue----*looking around* Hey, Sakura? Does anyone know why we let Madison dress us up in these silly battle outfits?

_Silence as they all ponder this unanswerable question._

  
  


Fiery Card:

The Fiery Card was a little depressed. It blamed itself for what happened. It should have talked the Mistress out of opening it in the first place, should have thought of another way to help Master Syaoran that wouldn't have endangered the Card Mistress. It had failed in a Card's first and major duty- to protect it's Master.

It sat off to the side if the group, not really interacting with the other Cards, although Windy had tried to cheer Fiery up before it left to search for a Sakura. The Fiery itself had not gone looking yet, it hadn't seen the point. All the Fiery had been able to see for awhile was that Mistress Sakura was in trouble, and it was the cause. What good would finding random Sakuras do? But since Master Syaoran had appeared out of the mist, it had started to change it's mind. Li Syaoran was willing to risk everything to help the Mistress, a mind-walking spell was a very dangerous thing. But Master Syaoran had done it anyway, could the Fiery do any less?

With renewed determination the Fiery Card turned from the group of Clow Cards (and Sakuras) and moved away into the pink fog. It *would* find the right Sakura and help it's Mistress be okay again. It had to.

  
  


Power Card:

The Clow card tried not to smile at the Sakuras' conversation. All the Cards, well the half-way intelligent ones at least, knew how the two Card Captors felt about each other. Their devotion and love was clear to see, if you were looking. It was very amusing to see Skauras from different stages in the relationship interact. And the Card could tell that even the Sakuras that were protesting couldn't help but be attracted to the male Card Captor, with those two it was inevitable.

To Be Continued ^_^


	19. Nineteen

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

Power's scheming)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author Notes: Parts of this chapter will be from various Cards' point of view, cause it's fun! ^_~

  
  


Chapter 19:

So, the hunt for the correct Sakura continued. With Syaoran heading in one direction and the Fiery Card heading in the other. Each with an equal determination to find her, if for different reasons. The Fiery's being loyalty, and Syaoran's being love. But there was one place that no one had looked, and it didn't seem that anyone would bother to, which was why she was there.

  
  


Atop The Fly Card:

Sakura (well, one of them anyway) was sitting out of view on the big bird's back, hidden between it's wings. She had been there pretty much from the start, even before the Cards first went looking for 'Sakuras'. Her emotional state varied, depending on what she could remember from moment to moment. Sometimes she would remember *everything* only to lose it seconds later. Mostly she would remember just snatches of events, like things the other Sakuras would talk about, then the thoughts would slip through her grasp and she would be back where she started.

She looked down at her arm again and noticed the recent scar and blistered skin. And she wondered, for the hundredth time, how the burn had come to be there and where the scar was from. Then she looked back to her surroundings. This place was so strange, and confusing. Would she ever be able to leave it?

Sakura looked down at her arm and was surprised to see a burn there, where had that come from? And..... Was that a scar??

  
  


Power Card:

The Power Card had come up with a *brilliant* idea. It was sure to work! Giggling and rubbing it's tiny hands together it went to set it's plan in action.

~Hey Sakuras!!~ it called, it had long given up on thinking of *all* those Sakuras as it's Mistress, it would wait until they found the real one again.

~You guys noticed that we're having a bit of a problem?~ many Sakuras nodded.

~Well, do you want to help?~ more nods.

~Okay then! Here's what we do.......~

  
  


Watching The Dawn:

Touya had noticed that the sun was rising over the world again about 20 minutes ago. Until the dawn came he really had not realized how late, or early, it was. Many of the events had seemed to happen so quickly, except for the last hour or so. Yes, the last part of the night had gone *very* slowly, the only spot of excitement being when the Guardian's Barrier had gone up. Even that had not lasted long. As soon as the dome of light Yue and Kero had created became big enough to cover them all and most of the apartment, it had vanished. This final bit had given him a start, until he noticed a sparkle just on the edge of his vision. It seemed that the Barrier *was* there it was just see-through.

So, that time of panic had passed, leaving him alone again with 5 unconscious 'someones'. If Touya hadn't been in the situation himself he never would have believed that a person could sit in the same room as a giant Lion, and be bored. But he was, bored that is. And there was nothing he could really do about it, that gaki didn't even have a T.V.!!!

Touya sighed and sank back into his chair. Maybe he should just go to sleep-- Then he would fit in with all the other occupants in the apartment.

  
  


Syaoran (a.k.a. Wandering In The Pink):

Syaoran was really starting to get worried now, he hadn't found another Sakura. And he didn't like the odds of one of the Cards finding her in time either. Because time *was* running out. Not only did he need to get Sakura back in her right mind right away, but there was an itty bitty little time limit problem with the mind-walking spell. He had not remembered this himself, before he cast the spell, but there was only so much time his spirit could be away from his body. If he was gone too long, his body would just *stop* working. And he had no idea how long he had been here. And did not know how much longer he had left. The clock was ticking and he had no way of knowing when it would stop.

What he *did* have was a growing sense of foreboding, and a significant lack of 'Sakura'. He finally decided to go back the way he had come. Maybe one of the Cards had found Sakura, or maybe he just hadn't looked hard enough at the Sakuras that where there. If she wasn't there he didn't know what to do. He could feel the link back to his body fading, and he couldn't leave without Sakura, *all* their lives depended on her.

Syaoran started running back toward the slight clearing in the fog where the Cards (and extra Sakuras) were gathered. It seemed to take forever to get back, he could feel death drawing closer to his mortal body. He ran faster.

When he came to a stop at 'Club Clow Card' he startled some of the Cards, who had been playing gin-rummy. (AN: Hey! Where did they get cards from?!?) He skirted the card-playing group (Thunder was winning) and continued past the Fly (who was still asleep). But when he got around the Fly, Syaoran did not see what he had expected. He had braced himself to again see all those Sakura in one place, but had not prepared himself to find them *gone*!!

~What!!~ he yelled, ~Where did they GO??!!~

Power, now the sole inhabitant of the 'Sakura Spot', answered him.

~Well, I sent them out to look for more of their own. Figured it would save time.~ it explained with a self-satisfied smile.

Syaoran really couldn't have argued with this plan, except that they did not have *time* for time saving schemes right now! What good would he be to Sakura DEAD!!!

~SAKURA!!!!!~ he yelled in frustration, he couldn't think of anything else to do. The results of his cry were unexpected, to say the least.

~What? I'm right here!~ said a voice from *above* Syaoran.

~You don't have to yell.~ the voice concluded. And when Syaoran looked up to see the source of the voice he found himself staring into *Sakura's* green eyes.

To Be Continued ^_^


	20. Twenty

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

carpet damage)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 20:

~Sa...Sakura?~ Syaoran asked stunned. Could it be that the real Sakura had been sitting on top of the Fly Card this entire time?

~Oh, Syaoran! It's you! Something's wrong, I can't seem to remember......~ she trailed off.

~What? What's wrong?~ he asked. She stared at him, then shook her head as if to clear it.

~Oh, Hello!~ she said after a minute, ~Who are you?~

~Well, you see,~ Syaoran began, and because he was watching her so closely, he saw something flicker in her eyes as he continued, ~I'm a friend......~

~Yes I know~ she cut him off, ~Of course you're a friend! But, when did you get here?~

~Um, just now?~ he answered, this was getting very confusing!

~Well, you probably know *where* we are than, right?~

~Um, yeah?~

~So, where are we?~

~Well, umm......~ how did one say: 'we're in your head' delicately? But, as it turned out, he didn't have to answer, because she suddenly switched gears again. She shook her head once more and then her eyes widened in shock.

~......seem to remember anything very long. It keeps slipping. Help!~ This last confused Syaoran until he realized that she was completing her sentence from earlier, as if the entire conversation in the middle had never happened. What was going on?

  
  


Guardians Mid-Trance:

Around them was a white landscape, featureless except for the grey shadows that represented things in the physical world. They could see the ghostly forms of furniture, the walls of Syaoran's apartment, and a phantom Touya pacing back and forth. The only spot of color was the barrier they had made, now shimmering just out of sight.

~Well, that part is done~ Kerberos said.

~Yes, but it wasn't easy~ Yue returned, glaring at someone over his shoulder. Kero nodded in agreement, and joined him in glaring. Just behind Yue's left shoulder was, a surprisingly solid looking, Yukito. He was lounging on a phantom chair, watching them curiously.

~Hey! Don't blame me!~ Yukito said, folding his arms behind his head and relaxing further into the chair, ~You're the 'professionals' around here!~

~And your not even supposed to be HERE!!~ Yue yelled back, which was odd, since he didn't usually do that, ~Your just a magic construct to hide my identity! You not even real!~

~Funny, I feel real enough~ Yukito looked amused, ~Good job, by the way. You do 'magical constructs' very well.~

Yue just *did not* understand what was going on. He had deliberately made Yukito's personality a passive one, because beings born of magic *did* tend to take on a life of their own. And he didn't want to have to battle for control of his mind or body. But, Yue realized, in many ways Yukito was him, and he was Yukito, which would explain why the boy was exhibiting some of Yue's more deeply buried traits- like his sarcastic sense of mischief. Yue was beginning to see just *which* psyche he had buried that one in. *sigh*

Yukito had made his appearance moments after they began work on the barrier, and had been a pest ever since. Refusing their repeated requests to: 'GO AWAY!!!'. Yue had to admit, he had been helpful, some of the time. But the overall effect was one of annoyance. Not to mention the uneasy feeling Yue got when he realized just where Yukito had to have gotten the magical knowledge he was basing his suggestions on. Yue must have let down his mental blocks at some point, and Yukito had gotten a brain-full.

~You know~ Yukito broke into Yue's thoughts, ~Now that the barrier is done, one of you should really go check on Sakura and Syaoran.~

~But we are both needed to keep the barrier up~ Kero pointed out.

~I was actually thinking about that. I think, if you transferred your controls on the spell to Yue, he could hold it alone-- if he didn't try to do any other magic in the mean time.~

Both Guardians blinked at the 'human' in astonishment.

~Is this freakin' you out too?~ Kero whispered.

~Yes, definitely!~ Yue agreed.

Kero looked over to the shadowy forms of his Mistress and the Kid in the phantom kitchen, and sighed.

~He's right you know~

~Yes, I know~ Yue sounded defeated. Kero was going to get to leave, and he would have to stay here with his newly independent, and scarily smart, 'magical construct'. *double sigh*

~Let's just get it over with.~

~Okay~ Kero said, ~Watch out for incoming spell controls.~

  
  


Pacing:

Touya was about to crack. There was only so much an intelligent young man could take, before he went crazy. Again, he went over what had happened last night. First he finds out that his sister is a powerful sorceress, with magical cards and a stuffed animal for a guardian. Then she uses some of that magic to heal Li Syaoran and herself, followed by a spectacular card show. Next, after all those cards had gone *into* his sister, her heart had stopped, and the gaki had revived her with magic *lightning*. Then came the revelation that his father had been able to see ghosts all along! His sister couldn't remember anything! And that 'stuffed animal' was really a HUGE *Lion*! Finally the appearance of the 'Barrier of Protection', and then...... Nothing.

He looked at the clock; it was 7:30 in the morning. And everyone was *still* unconscious! Wait.... Maybe not everyone. Hearing a sound Touya turned to see the *Lion* get up, stretch (digging his claws in Syaoran's poor carpet), and walk over to the kitchen. Half-way there he turned back into his stuffed animal form with a: Pop! And floated the rest of the way.

"Hey, wait!," Touya called, "Tell me what's going on!" he followed the bobbing Kero into the kitchen.

To Be Continued ^_^


	21. Twenty-One

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

Kerberos quashing)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Okay, someone asked how Yukito could get out of Yue's head like that. All I can say is......ummmmm.......... Ask Yukito!! I have no idea! It seems Yukito, without my consent (grumble), has developed an independent personality, which writes itself whenever I'm doing a scene with Yukito or Yue in it. So, completely beyond my control ^_^ (it's really kind of fun! :)

Oh! BTW---- Thanks to all the reviewers!!!!!!!!!!! ^_~

  
  


Chapter 21:

Syaoran sat patiently next to Sakura and calmly answered her questions. Even though this was the 20th time she had asked them, and she wouldn't even remember talking to him in a few minutes. All he could do was humor her until the 'True Sakura' side of her came out. In essence he was having one very fractured conversation, in which the other participant had no idea that she was causing frequent interruptions in her own commentary. So he tried to keep a running list of her 'sane' comments, so he could keep up. Put together, her side of the dialogue went something like this:

~Oh, Syaoran! It's you! Something's wrong! I can't seem to remember.........~

~.......seem to remember anything very long. It keeps slipping. Help!~

~Can you tell me where we are? And why........~

~.....why the Cards are here?~

~What do you mean........~

~.....mean, In my head?~

~How can we.......~

~....can we be......~

~.....be in *my* head!?!~

~I have.......~

~....have amnesia?~

~Well, that makes.....~

~....makes sense........~

~........sense, considering.~

~You look.......~

~....look confused.~

~I'm slipping.......~

~.......slipping again.......~

~.....again, aren't I?~

~Syaoran, how can......~

~.....can we fix........~

~.......fix this?~

  
  


_I don't know how to, Sakura_, Syaoran thought to himself, _I don't know how to fix this. I don't know how to save you, or how to save myself._

  
  


Kitchen Doorway:

Touya glanced at Kero, who was floating just outside the circle that Syaoran had drawn on the floor. The stuffed animal *still* hadn't told him what was going on. He was worried about his sister, Touya needed answers.

"Okay, Hairball! Tell me what's going on!!" Touya grabbed the fluffy magical beast and shook him, "When will my dad wake up? Why did that barrier thing take so long? And why hasn't that gaki fixed Sakura yet?!?"

Kero, however, was having trouble saying anything beyond rasping pleas of: "can't.....breath" and: "need....air". (AN: The Author refuses to comment on whether or not 'magical beasts' actually *need* to breath ;)

Finally Touya realized that he wouldn't get answers out of a subject exhibiting signs of oxygen depravation.

"Alright, fine!," he let the hapless guardian free, "Now talk!!"

"You could have just asked!" Kero coughed.

"I DID!"

"Really? Sorry," Kero looked sheepish, "I'm worried about Sakura too." Well, Touya could understand that. By mutual, unspoken, agreement they both dropped the matter and turned back to look at the Card Captors.

"I'm sure your dad is fine," Kero answered Touya's earlier question, "he should wake up any minute now." Touya nodded and prompted him to continue.

"The barrier took longer to get up than we thought it would." Touya wanted to get more clarification on that point, but the annoyed look on Kero's little face stopped him from asking.

"We were both worried about Sakura, and decided that Yue could hold the barrier alone so I could come check on her."

"'Hold the barrier'?" Touya questioned, "Aren't you done with the spell?"

"No, it's a spell that needs to be maintained from inside. And usually both Guardians are needed to hold it together. But, ummm 'someone', pointed out that, since the major casting was done, Yue should be able to hold it himself. So, here I am to check on the Kid and Sakura."

"Okay, what about Sakura then?"

"Well, I'll have to check that, won't I? Now be quiet."

Touya held back further questions as he watched the Beast of the Seal go into a mini-trance as he looked upon the Card Captor duo. Touya had learned in the short time he had known Kero, well known he was alive anyway, that it was hard to read his expressions. His beady eyes and button nose made it hard to tell what he was thinking, but he knew fear when he saw it. And, after Kero had examined Syaoran and Sakura for a few moments, he had fear written all over his face.

"What is it?" Touya asked as soon as Kero had shaken off the trance.

"It's definitely not good," Kero said absently, his brow furrowed in worry as he crossed his stuffed arms, never taking his eyes off the two sorcerers.

"WHAT IS IT!?!" Touya asked again, louder this time.

"Syaoran is dying."

Touya was silent as he pondered this. He didn't really like the Kid hanging around his sister, but Li Syaoran wasn't a bad sort. Touya would be sad (only a little, mind) if the young sorcerer died.

"Why?"

"It's the spell, I think," Kero answered him, "He is putting too much energy into it or something, his aura is barely there. And, if he dies before the spell is completed, Sakura could be harmed as well." he finished gravely.

To Be Continued ^_^


	22. Twenty-Two

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

implied swearing)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 22:

"........if Syaoran dies before the spell is completed, Sakura could be harmed as well," Kero finished gravely.

****Dramatic Pause****

"Okay," Touya finally said, "So, what do we do?"

Kero thought for a moment, examining Syaoran's spell circle, then he uttered a curse that no stuffed animal should know.

"****!!!, OH NO!!!!! We *can't* do anything! Not from outside of the spell circle!"

"What about from the inside?" Touya asked.

"That's just it, we can't get in," Kero looked sadly at the pattern Syaoran had drawn on the floor using chalk, "That's a High Magic binding circle" ~Did I know the Kid could do that?~ "It will only come down if Syaoran cancels the spell, or if he dies."

"Would Syaoran's death kill Sakura too?" the young man asked, with more calm then he would have shown, if faced with the same situation yesterday.

"I don't think so. But I don't know anything beyond that. From his aura I'd say the Kid cast a mind-walking spell, and those have highly unpredictable results."

****Dramatic Pause #2****

"Why did the gaki cast that 'High Magic' thing anyway!"

"Probably to protect Sakura, in case we didn't get the Guardian's barrier up in time." Well, Touya couldn't argue with that. The little monster's safety was important to them all.

"What are our options then?" Touya questioned.

"Well, we could wait and see what happens. Or..."

"Or?"

"Or, I could try and break the circle. Which I'm not even sure I could do, and the effort might kill them both anyway."

****Dramatic Pause #--- Aw, forget it!****

"That settles it then," said Touya. Kero nodded.

""Wait,"" they both agreed. (AN: And I believe we have a PLAN :)

  
  


Back With Syaoran:

Once Syaoran overcame the shock of seeing his Sakura this way, and had adjusted to the situation, he began to think rationally again. With new clarity, his mind raced from one possible solution to another, trying to look at the scenario from every conceivable angle. There *had* to be a way to get them both out of this, he refused to believe in any other outcome.

Meanwhile the extremely odd conversation with Sakura went on. Syaoran was glad that he had endless patience where his Cheery Blossom was concerned, anyone else might have snapped by now. Even the Power Card had retreated, bouncing off to join the Cards on the other side of Fly, around the third 'Who are you?' A little later he heard the Power call out: 'Gin!' in a triumphant voice, so he guessed that the Cards were still playing 'cards', now including Power in their number. He wondered if the Sakuras would join the game when they got back. Oh!! This wasn't getting him anywhere!

Shaking off his idle thoughts, Syaoran again concentrated on how to get them all out of this mess. He couldn't just leave, taking the real Sakura with him, as he had originally planned. Because, while he did believe that he'd found the *right* Sakura, in her current state of mind taking her back would be redundant. He had come here to help Sakura remember herself and her life, so she could stop whatever danger was coming. And he didn't think that she could help much, as she was. Plus he wanted *his* Sakura back, all of her, every intriguingly beautiful part that, together, made up her personality. How could he accomplish this goal?

Syaoran was startled when the idea came to him, like all truly inspirational plans do, suddenly and fully formed. It was perfect! Why hadn't he thought of it before?

If he was looking for pieces of Sakura, they were all around him! He just had to bring the right ones together. Then, as if waiting for him to think this, the rest of the Sakuras came walking out of the pink fog, stopping before him.

Syaoran stood and considered the group carefully, he only had one shot at this, time was running out. So, which Sakuras belonged with the real one? Beside him he felt Sakura stand from the place they had been resting while they talked. One glance at her expression told Syaoran that the *real* Sakura was in.

~Whoa!~ she said, looking in amazement at the crowd of *hers* gathered in front of them.

~You weren't kidd......~ she trailed off.

~Who are you?~ back to the drawing board. Syaoran prepared to explain to his beloved who he was, but someone beat him to it.

~That's Syaoran~ a Sakura-in-red volunteered.

~Isn't he cute?~ asked a Sakura-in-blue. The Sakura beside Syaoran looked at him for a minute, then nodded her agreement to herself, ~Yes, he is cute. What was the name again?~

~Syaoran!!~ 3 out of 4 Sakuras chirped happily. The object in question blushed, and the group giggled in response. *sigh* A hero's work was never done.

  
  


Chatting With Yukito:

Yue wished that his other self would be quiet for just a *few* minutes! The annoyance factor was steeply climbing, and Yue needed to concentrate on the spell.

~Could you *please* be quiet?~ Yue requested, cutting his counterpart off in mid-ramble. Then he realized just what Yukito had been rambling about.

~Hey! What do you know about the magic-flow of inter-dimensional-time-vortexes?~

~I know everything you do about them. I got a lot of info, I'm still trying to figure it all out.~

~How much is 'a lot'?~ Yukito didn't answer, and there was silence for a moment. Finally Yukito ventured another comment.

~Yue, you know that we are, essentially, one person, right?~

~Yes, I guess so~ Yue admitted grudgingly. Yukito *had* been created with facets of his own personality.

~Well, I was thinking. Since we *are* one, why can't we *be* one? One person I mean? It would make stuff easier.~ That was true.

~I'll think about it~ Yue said, ~Now could you please be quiet?~

~Sure! Whatever you say.~

To Be Continued ^_^


	23. Twenty-Three

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

Sakura confusion)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 23:

Syaoran narrowed his concentration as he looked at the group of Sakuras, trying to find the differences between them. The first thing he noticed, only because he was looking, was that with the Sakuras aged 2-10 there was only *one* Sakura per year. But once Sakura passed the age of eleven and became a Card Captor, there were at least *three* for every year. And her 11th year, when she caught all the Cards, had *six* Sakuras representing it. He spared a thought as to why the youngest was 2, and decided that the Sakuras must be made up of her memories and she must not have any clear ones before the age of 2, which kind of made sense. So, continuing in the same pattern, if she only had one memory-Sakura to represent herself at each age, he had to find the ones for years 11-16 and the Sakuras that were left had to be part of the *real* Sakura. Then all he had to do was get her back together. Simple, right? *sigh*

~Okay~ he said, getting the group to pay attention to him, ~All the Card Captor Sakuras over to one side~, he gestured to his right, ~and ages 2-10 over there~, he gestured to his left. It took a few moments to get them all separate, then he began to examine the Card Captor ones in earnest, which caused most of them to giggle.

~All the eleven year olds step forward, please~ they did as he asked, and he got another surprise. There weren't *six* of them, more like *ten*! Oh, this was impossible!!

~What, exactly, are we doing?~ Sakura-in-blue asked curiously. Syaoran didn't see any reason why they *couldn't* know, so he explained it to them.

~Oh! What a mess!~ said the Sakura still standing beside him. He glanced over and noticed that she was *his* Sakura again.

~Any ideas?~ he asked her.

~Well, the memory-Sakuras would be more like I see myself.....~ she trailed off again. *sigh* At least she had given him a place to start looking before she left. So, how did Sakura see herself? He had no idea. (AN: Neither does the author! Help!! :) He decided to start by weeding out the Sakuras that he was sure she didn't see herself as, then go from there.

He cast his eyes across the Sakuras in front of him, stopping on Sakura-in-blue. That was the one who was after the Watery Card. She was still giggling and blushing a little at the attention. Um, did Sakura see herself with such cheerful curiosity? He didn't think so.

~Okay, Sakura-in-blue~ he pointed to her, then gestured further to the right of the group, ~would you step over there please?~

~Sure!~ she did as he asked, giggling all the way. Some of the other Sakuras giggled as well, and that gave him another idea. For, while Sakura did giggle at times, and he thought it was adorable, she seemed embarrassed when she did it, so he didn't think she would see herself that way. So, all the giggling Sakuras went over to join Sakura-in-blue.

He also dismissed the Sakuras that didn't seem to like him, and deliberately didn't think of why they were the first to go after the gigglers. The ones who liked him too much were ditched as well, she would never be that obvious in her affections. Finally he jettisoned the ones who didn't know him, because ummm, just because! He didn't think it was too arrogant of him to assume that he had become enough a part of her life that it would influence her self-image.

After the weeding was over he had six Sakuras left, he needed five. He gestured four of them over to stand with the 2-10 group, and gazed despairingly at the last two. They were both eleven, and he had no ideas left how to rule one out. He stepped closer as he stared at them, one was the Sakura that captured the Fiery Card, the other had sealed the Twin Card. He still couldn't decide which one represented how Sakura saw herself in her eleventh year. If only he had another opinion!

Just as he thought that, and this seemed to be happening a lot lately, help arrived in the form of the Windy and the Fiery Cards. The Windy emerged from the pink fog dragging the Fiery behind it.

~But I want to find Mistress Sakura!~ the Fiery protested.

~How many times do I have to tell you! All the Skauras are here! They're *all* found!~

~But how can you *know* that for sure?~

~Because I *know* things! Now, come on! Master Syaoran needs us!~

~He does? Well, why didn't you say so?~

~I did! Arg! Never mind! Just come on!~ Syaoran was a little surprised at this abrasive personality coming from the Windy Card, it had always seemed so _gentle_ before. In his mind he could almost hear Kero's favorite comment: 'Expect the Unexpected!' Fluff ball.

~So~ said the Windy as the two Cards joined him in looking at the remaining Skauras, ~Can't decide between these two, huh?~

~No~, he admitted, ~The Sakura who captured the Fiery was brave and faced her fears. The one who sealed the Twin was compassionate, and excepted Maelin into our group.~ he explained, ~Oh, and neither giggle.~

~Yes~ Windy nodded, ~Well, that's why we're here. Fiery anyway, it can help.~

~Help with what?~ Fiery asked.

~We need to decide which Sakura is how the Mistress would see herself.~

~Is that all? That one..~ the Fiery pointed at the Sakura that had captured it.

~Why do you think so?~ Syaoran asked.

~Well, look at her~, all three looked, ~See how she keeps stealing glances at you, Master Syaoran, then looking away again?~

~Yes~, he could see that. Her body language said that she *liked* him, but didn't what him to know.

~That was when she started to have a crush on you, and admitted it to herself. All the Cards knew.~

~Oh~ Syaoran blushed, what *else* did the Cards know?

~Alright then, that's settled~, Windy said. The two Sakuras, who knew the drill by now, went to their respective groups, to wait for what was next. Hey, wait a minute! What *was* next?

~What now?~ Syaoran asked Windy, because it seemed to *know* things.

~You mean *you* don't have any ideas about that either?~ Windy returned. (AN: Uh-oh! So much for Windy being in the *know* ^_~)

To Be Continued ^_^


	24. Twenty-Four

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

varied annoyance)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 24:

~Hey!~ Syaoran yelled at the Windy, ~What do you mean by: 'either'?!~

~Well~, said the Windy, blinking innocently, ~Fiery doesn't know~, it pointed at the Fiery Card, ~and, you don't know either!~ it finished by pointing at Syaoran.

~Does this mean *you* know what to do?~

~Why, yes, I do~, Windy replied, smiling at him like he had just won a spelling bee with the correct spelling of 'quandary'. It took Syaoran a few moments to battle his temper down. For a warrior who was usually cool-headed, he had become angry with this Card very quickly. He tried to, briefly, decided just *what* had made this Clow Card so annoying, but could come up with nothing. It seemed that he had finally found a 'magical beast' who was more annoying than Kero.

~What do we do then?~ he asked with exaggerated calm.

~Simple, THROUGH!!!! RETURN!!!!! GET OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!~ this last was yelled loudly and without any warning, causing most of the Sakuras to jump, some to squeal, and the two year old to cry. Syaoran sighed. Why did he get the feeling that he wasn't going to like this plan?

  
  


Syaoran's Couch:

Kent didn't want to wake up. He was in a nice, warm, almost 'cuddly' place. He would have been content to float there for awhile, except that something wasn't letting him. It started with a faint ringing sound, that seemed to grow louder with every repetition. And it did repeat, over and over again, soon it was joined by voices.

"....is the phone?"

"Syaoran's? It's over there."

"No! Not Syaoran's! The one I brought."

"The pink one?"

"Yes, have you seen it?"

"No."

"Well, look for it! It's got to be Madison, and, believe me, she *will* let it ring until someone answers. If no one does, she will probably check your house. And when she sees the condition of your kitchen she might get worried enough to do something rash, like come over here!"

"Does Madison know about the Card Captoring thing?"

"Um, yes. She videotapedalmostallthecaptures!"

"Wait a minute 'videotaped'? And you let her?"

"Have you ever tried to stop Madison from doing something?"

"Good point."

"Yes. *And* she makes Sakura wear these kooky battle outfits..."

"'Battle outfits'?"

"Let's just not even go there right now! Need to find the phone before Madison goes into full Protect-Sakura mode."

"Another good point. So, if you were a pink cordless phone? Where would *you* be?...."

~That's a good question~, Kent thought to himself. And he was pretty sure he knew the answer too. He had tracked the ringing noise to a place very close, or you could say 'directly under', his left ear. *sigh* How annoying. He would just have to wake up then. The incessant ringing *must* be stopped, least it disturb any other peaceful sleepers.

Kent blinked himself awake, and sat up. Reaching down, he retrieved the phone from where it had slipped behind the couch cushion. It took him awhile to find the 'on' button, it was disguised with a shooting star sticker, (the purple, sparkly kind). But, he finally found it, and, pushing it, brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello...?" he said. At this the phone searchers discovered what they had been missing, and Madison got a little shock.

"Um..... Sakura's Dad?!?"

"That would be me."

"But.... how did you get this phone?"

"Kero left it on the couch."

"You... k..know about Kero?" she asked weakly.

"Yes"

"Who told you?"

"Kero"

"Oh," Madison paused, "Is Sakura okay? She was supposed to call me, first thing."

"I hope she's okay," Kent said, tossing a worried look toward the kitchen, "Some stuff happened."

"Magic stuff?"

"Yes"

"And I wasn't there to tape it!!!!"

"'Tape it'?"

"Um..Never mind. I'm coming over," with a video camera, no doubt.

"We're not at home"

"Where are you?!?"

"Li Syaoran's apartment"

"WHAT!!!!! You miss one night, and all the good stuff happens!! No fair!!"

"I guess so," Kent whispered in surprised amazement. Where was his daughter finding her *friends*??

"Well, I'm coming over there then"

"Wait, let me ask Kero something" Hearing his name Kero zipped over and hovered in front of him.

"Kero, did you get that barrier thing up?"

"Yep"

"Madison want's to come over, can she get through it?"

"I think so," Kero thought for a moment, "It's set to keep out negative forces. And, even though Madison *is* annoying at times, I doubt she is evil, so it should be fine."

"Madison?" Kent said into the phone, "Kero said it was okay, but I'm not sure you should come. It could get dangerous......." he trailed off, you can't talk sense to a dial tone.

To Be Continued ^_^


	25. Twenty-Five

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

Sakuras skipping)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: I don't actually know what the Through and Return Cards can do, I haven't seen the show that far. So I made it up. Who knows, maybe I guessed right? ^_^ Oh, and I don't know if Windy is the oldest Card, I might have heard it somewhere, maybe not. Anyway Windy *is* the oldest Card in my fic.

Thanks To: Reviewers!!! =)

  
  


Chapter 25:

The Through and Return Cards wasted no time in answering Windy's call. This wasn't surprising considering that Windy was the oldest Clow Card, and anyone who yelled *that* loudly kind of *demanded* attention. Syaoran was glad they had responded promptly, it saved them all from Windy yelling again.

~What is it?~ asked the Through, softly. Syaoran thought that the Return had echoed the comment, but couldn't be sure because the Card was talking around...... Chewing gum?? What was with these Cards?!!? (AN: The Author would like to know that also! I *did not* authorize gum chewing in this fic!!! :)

~We need your help to pull Mistress Sakura together again~ said Windy.

~Cool!~ Return said, shifting the gum to one side of it's mouth so it could talk.

~Alright~ Through agreed, ~What do you wish us to do?~

As the Windy explained it's plan, Syaoran decided that it might actually work, hopefully. (Fingers crossed)

After the Windy finished explaining, they all got to work. First they had all the memory Sakuras move father away so they wouldn't get mixed up again. Then Syaoran, the Windy, and the Fiery, lined up the rest of the Sakuras. This was really hard because the Windy insisted that they be lined up by *exact* age, oldest to youngest, down to the month, or day as was sometimes the case. When they were almost done with this, Syaoran asked the Windy why the Sakuras needed to be lined up by age. He was answered with:

~Why, it's just more fun that way!~ _Ask a stupid question_........ Syaoran decided to drop it, they needed to get this *done*. Instead he looked around to see what the other Cards were doing. The Return Card had, beginning at the start of their line, dusted each Sakura with a sparkling green powder. The powder poured liberally from an hourglass the Return was holding, when it was upended over a Sakura's head, and shaken (like a salt shaker). Many of the Sakuras sneezed, accompanied by popping sounds from the Return (it turned out it was chewing bubble gum). (AN: *Bubble* Gum???!!! What??!!)

The Through Card was sitting Indian style, meditating. At least that's what Syaoran thought it was doing, it could be sleeping, or maybe preparing for the task ahead. And Syaoran was surprised, as he looked at the Card, that there was a sense of serenity about it. Almost like one would have expected from the Windy. These Cards were so _odd!_ (AN: Tell me about it!!! :)

Finally the preparations were completed, the Return having absolutely coated the *real* Sakura with the green powder, and sprinkled some on the Through for good measure. And they were ready to start the plan.

~Okay, listen up!~ said the Windy, with the air of a drill instructor, ~All green speckled Sakuras join hands, and stand in single file, oldest to youngest, behind the *real* Sakura. March!~ it blew a whistle to get them moving. (AN: Wait a minute! Whistle?? Arg!!)

While the Sakuras shuffled into line Syaoran looked at Sakura and noticed she seemed to be *herself* again, for now.

~.....like I see myself~ she finished her sentence from before, then looked down at the green powder. ~Um, Syaoran? What _is_ this stuff?~ some of the powder got into her mouth when she spoke, ~Ick! It tastes like _Pixie Stix!_** I hate those! Syaoran! How did.........~ and she was gone again. Syaoran sighed, this just had to work. It had to.

~Okay, Through! Show time~ said the Windy, nudging the meditating Card with it's foot. The Return nodded in agreement, popping a bubble. The Through opened it's eyes and gracefully got to it's feet, it did not say anything, just gave them all a small smile to confirm that it was ready.

Through stepped to the front of the line, taking the hand of the Sakura in the lead, then it started moving. Syaoran watched incredulously as the line moved around Sakura and they started skipping. The Windy had explained the need for momentum, but he was having a little trouble excepting the need for *skipping*. The line moved in a wide circle, the Sakuras, eerily skipping in tandem, following the Through Card like children in a game.

Meanwhile the Return Card tapped it's hourglass with the ball of one hand, causing it, and all the powder, to glow. So there was a line of Sakuras eerily skipping in tandem and glowing green. Then the light flickered and went out, prompting Syaoran to look over at the Return in worry. That wasn't supposed to happen! Evidently the Return agreed, for it glared angrily at the malfunctioning hourglass, then it gave it a good _bang_ on the ground. The glow came back and Return gave Syaoran a 'thumbs-up' sign, blowing another bubble.

The Sakura-party-line (which now comes with a fetching green glow :) moved in for final approach, and Syaoran held his breath (metaphorically) and locked his eyes on the *real* Sakura, waiting. He didn't have to wait long, the line was now behind Sakura again and closing fast. The Through gave one last skip, then dived into Sakura, and stopped. Syaoran could see a faint outline of the Through superimposed over Sakura. The Sakura line, however, did not stop moving. The Sakuras disappeared, one by one, each pulling the one after into the space where the *real* Sakura was standing, and they didn't come out again. It was working! (AN: Yes!!)

The green glow from the Return Card's powder got brighter and brighter as more Sakuras joined the *real* one, until, when the last Sakura disappeared, it went out with a brilliant flash of light. The Through fell to the ground in front of Sakura, who stood there, sans powder, looking a little dazed.

~Syaoran?~ she said. Syaoran ran to Sakura, as the Fiery Card helped Through to it's feet again, asking if it was okay. The Through answered with a tired smile, it was fine.

~Sakura?~ Syaoran asked, tentatively. Was this *his* Sakura?

~Syaoran~ she looked around at the strange landscape, ~WHAT is going ON??!!~

To Be Continued ^_^

** No, I do not own _Pixie Stix_ (is that how you spell it??) And I'm glad! Glad I say! Those things are gross!


	26. Twenty-Six

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

something ^_~)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Okay, now the beginning of this chapter is sappy, waffy, fluffy...... You get the idea. I couldn't resist, and I thought they deserved it ^_^ Anyway I'm not sure if I write sap that well. What do you think? ^_~

Thanks To: Reviewers!! =)

  
  


Chapter 26:

Syaoran looked at Sakura as she asked him what was going on. Was this *his* Sakura? Was she sane again? As he gazed at her he saw, deep in her eyes, that spark of life that he had fallen in love with. And he had his answer. It was her!!

~Sakura!!~ he wrapped her in a tight hug, ~You're.....You're *you* again!!~

~Who else would I be?~

~Never mind! I'm just glad you're you!~

~Syaoran?~ she asked as he released her, ~Are you okay?~ the oddness of their surroundings melted into the background, as she looked into his beloved face, her own features were filled with worry. Since when was Syaoran a *hugging* kind of person?

~I'm fine~ he reassured her. He couldn't seem to stop looking at her, or (metaphorically) touching her face and hair. She was _real_ and okay, he didn't think he had ever been so happy. And then..... (AN: Come on! You *know* what should happen next, right? Teenage-boy + girl-he-really-likes = Guess! *giggles* ;)..... then Syaoran gave into the impulse he had been fighting since the day he meet his Cherry Blossom, and leaning forward, he kissed Sakura.

Sakura was a little surprised, albeit in a pleasant way. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but if Syaoran wanted to kiss her, she wasn't going to complain. Her last thought was that it had taken him long enough, she had been waiting years for this. Then she was drawn into a warm, comfortable place, that she didn't want to leave anytime soon-- Li Syaoran's arms. ^_^

  
  


The Windy Card:

The Windy would be the first to call itself weird, it was quite aware that it's actions seemed odd to others. But it *did* have a reason, so it didn't worry that much about it. As long as it accomplished what was needed, what did it matter if it annoyed a few (a lot :) of people along the way?

The origins of Windy's oddness where shrouded in mystery....... Well, not really but it sounded good, no? The Windy knew exactly how it had become so odd. The Windy heard *everything* that went on *anywhere* in the world. The wind carried every noise, every conversation, every *movement* of everything on the planet, directly to the Windy's ears, even in the book. It had taken Windy almost a century to learn how to only listen to what it needed to hear, and block out the rest, and that didn't even work most of the time. Oddly (yes again) the Windy could also hear stuff that hadn't happened yet, like how Syaoran had needed Fiery to pick out the last memory-Sakura. Needless to say, all this added up to an, um.... *unique* personality. But the Windy decided that it handled it alright, it *was* magical after all: It used it's talents to help guide Mistress Sakura and Master Syaoran to their 'World Saving Destiny'....... *bum*....*bum*......*buumm* (teehee :).

Along these lines the Windy was quite aware that Master Syaoran's body was fading, it was also aware that Syaoran would die in exactly 5-minutes and 47-seconds (one of those future hearing things, you know). So, and it did regret this because they just looked so *cute*, the kissing just had to stop, they needed to be on their way. 5:42

  
  


WAFF-ville:

Syaoran had just started to sink into the sate of mind sometimes called: the-warm-fuzzy-realm-of-no-return, when a noise brought him back.

~......Syaoran! Master Syaoran!!!~ *deep breath* ~MASTER SYAORAN!!!!!!!!!!!!~ He jerked away from Sakura and looked around frantically.

~What?~ he asked.

~Oh! Did I disturb you?~ the Card returned sweetly. 5:35

~Yes! You did!~ they were both surprised to see that the answer had come from...Sakura. ~Now, I want to know what is going on, where we are, what the Clow Cards are doing here, and *why* the Windy interrupted us!! That was my FIRST kiss!! And I wasn't finished yet!~ she crossed her arms and glared daggers at the Windy, ~You better have a good explanation.~ her voice had taken on a low, dangerous tone, she was almost growling in anger. (AN: *giggles* ;) The Windy decided that it would be best to answer right away. 5:31

~Now in the order you asked: Your heart stopped, Master Syaoran started it again with magic lightning, but it kinda, ummm, fractured your psyche, which Syaoran came here to fix. We are in your mind (notice the charming pink fog?). The Cards are here because you absorbed them (no I wont tell you why that happened, ask Kerberos). And I'm sorry that I interrupted your first kiss, but Master Syaoran only has~ it paused to think ~5-minutes and 28-seconds to get back to his body before it dies!~ the Windy finished dramatically (it listened to soap-operas, too).

~What! Syaoran! Did you know that?~ Sakura demanded.

~Well, kinda.... But I thought I had more time!!~ he looked a little panicked. 5:23

~How do we get out of here?!~

~Syaoran should be able to guide you both out~ Windy said, ~Master Syaoran do you remember, when you first got here, you went the direction that had the strongest sense of Sakura?~ he nodded ~Well, to get back, just find the way that has the strongest sense of Syaoran, that should lead you back the way you came.~ Syaoran nodded again, and, closing his eyes (metaphorically), he began to turn in a slow circle, sensing for the direction that felt the most 'Syaoran'. 5:19

The Windy turned to Sakura, ~Mistress Sakura?~ it grasped her chin firmly and looked directly in her eyes, ~Be careful. And remember the Cards will *always* be here. If you need us, just call. Alright?~ it released her chin, allowing Sakura to nod her understanding. The impression Sakura took away was that the Windy Card was, um.... Odd, but loyal. It, and the rest of the Cards, would support and help her, always. It was a nice feeling. ~Thank you~ she told it, Windy inclined it's head in acknowledgment, and Sakura knew it would spread her 'Thanks' to the other Cards as well. 5:14

~I've got it!~ Syaoran cried suddenly. He caught Sakura's hand in one of his own, and started toward the pink fog at a brisk pace. Over his shoulder he called: ~Thanks guys! Clow knew what he was doing when he made you!~ Return popped another bubble, Through blushed at the complement, Windy, Fiery, and Power (who has just arrived) waved cheerily.

~Good Luck!~ they called after the retreating Card Captors. Once they were gone, a few moments passed in silence.

~Do you think they'll make it?~ Power asked.

~I hope so~ Windy said, ~I hope so.~ 4:48

To Be Continued ^_^


	27. Twenty-Seven

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

tense stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Chapter 27:

Running (Out Of Time):

As they ran hand-in-hand through the fog, Syaoran noticed that it (the fog) wasn't getting any thinner. So the reason the fog was there couldn't be, as he had first thought, because of her 'clouded' state of mind. That should have cleared up by now. He came to the conclusion that the fog must be a permanent part of the landscape. Sakura and the color pink, *shrug* go figure. 2:39

They had been running for a good two minutes, and Syaoran felt that they were getting close to the 'exit'. He had almost begun to hope that they would both get out of this alive, when something stopped them in their tracks (literally), they smacked into it with all momentum, and bounced back a few feet. On closer examination, after his ears stopped ringing, Syaoran decided is was definitely an: Invisible-Barrier-Of-Unknown-Origin. He hated those. 2:22

~What now?~ Sakura asked.

~I'm not sure. It's your head, you have any ideas?~

~No~ *sigh*

~Well, let's see if I can sense anything from it, Okay?~

~Go ahead~ it gave Syaoran a warm fuzzy feeling to know that Sakura trusted him doing magic *in* her head. 2:15

Syaoran let go of Sakura's hand, which he _really_ didn't want to do, and placed both of his hands on the barrier. It was smooth, like glass, and see-through. He closed his eyes and sent a little of his aura out through his fingers, and into the wall. What he found was... Unexpected. 2:00

Sakura's mind, much to Syaoran's surprise, was compartmentalized (metaphorically). He had never seen, or heard of, anything like this. Most of it was normal, like the language-center, the sensory and nerve network, and her long and short term memories. But all the things that had to do with magic, like her magic power, knowledge, and now the Cards, were in a different place, the place they were standing right now. Also there was her 'soul' or 'self', which couldn't be separated from her magic, all within a glass-like bubble. Her thoughts could pass back and forth like the barrier didn't exist, that was how the memory-Sakuras must have gotten there. They would have gravitated toward this place because it was where Sakura's true self resided. The Sakura beside him (who represented her true self) could no doubt pass through it as well (she, most likely, hadn't been able to before because he was holding her hand) but Syaoran couldn't get through, neither could her magic, or the Cards.

The barrier almost seemed like it had been *constructed* and not by Sakura. And when Syaoran looked a little deeper, he saw why. Kero had told him that Sakura had drained her magic trying to save him. If this was so, it was a wonder Japan still existed, rather then being blown to itty bitty particles by the power Sakura could wield. He decided (in a vaguely shocked kind of way) that it was because she had used Thunder, the electricity had probably dispersed into the ground or the sky. They were all lucky that she hadn't used the Fiery. The barrier had obviously been placed there to protect Sakura, and others, from her power until she learned how to use it. Syaoran didn't even want to think about *where* all that magic was coming from, she had been drained and already her 'power reservoir' was half-way full again.

But none of this was helping him figure out how they could leave. Sure, Sakura could waltz through the 'glass' wall any time she wanted, but he sensed that it wouldn't let him through. Ever. He could imagine how hard it was for Sakura to do any magic at all, she would have to punch a hole in the 'glass', every time, big enough to get only a minuscule amount of energy. And he would bet that the barrier could heal itself pretty quickly. He couldn't fathom the force of will it must have taken her to open a conduit large enough that it could possibly drain her power. Or what it would have felt like to have all the Cards burst through the 'glass'.

Syaoran was different because, as a soul, he was more 'solid' then her magic, he didn't think she could open a hole big enough to let him through. He didn't belong here, was surprised that he had gotten here in the first place, and couldn't see a way to leave without breaking the barrier. And he couldn't risk what that might do to Sakura. He was stuck.

  
  


Sakura:

1:50

Syaoran had been examining the barrier for quite awhile. Sakura had nothing to do but admire how his Li Clan ceremonial robes fit. Hey! Wait a minute! Hadn't they cut off the top of that outfit, so they could fix his back? Sakura realized that it must be how Syaoran saw himself. She thought it was kind of cute that his *mental image* wore his Card Captor outfit. ^_^ And she was glad he had stopped wearing the hat, that went with the outfit, a few years before. His hair was so *gorgeous*, she had always been sad when he covered it.

When Syaoran stirred and stepped away from the barrier, Sakura was a little startled (she had been watching the way the pink light caught the highlights in his mahogany locks *giggle*). He turned around and Sakura was dismayed by the haunted look she found on his face.

~Syaoran? What is it?~

~I can't leave~ he answered her.

~But, you have to! Windy said you would *die*.~

~This barrier~ he gestured behind him ~was put here to safely hold your magic power until you learned to control it.~

~Put here by who?~

~I don't know, and it doesn't really matter now. It wont let me through.~

~Well, how does my magic get through?~

~You must punch a temporary hole long enough to get magic out.~

~Can't we get you through that way?~

~No, you couldn't make a hole big enough, or hold it open long enough.~

~Alright~

~Alright?~ Sakura was *okay* with this??!!

~Alright, we'll just have to break it then.~

1:20

To Be Continued ^_^


	28. Twenty-Eight

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

tense stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author's Notes: Thank You, for all the wonderful reviews!!... In other words: 'Don't Flame Me'

  
  


Chapter 28:

1:20

~Alright, we'll just have to break it then~ Sakura said.

~But, Sakura! Even if we can, it might be dangerous for you!~

~Hey!~ Sakura walked right up to him and jabbed him in the chest with one finger, ~If you~ *jab* ~can risk _your_ life for _me_~ *jab, jab* ~then I can risk _my_ life for _you_!!~ she folded her arms and glared at him, daring him to contradict her philosophy.

Syaoran blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and blinked again. *sigh* She was right, they were equal partners in that respect. They had each risked themselves for the other before, and he had no doubt it would happen again. He could not fault her for something he would do himself. 1:05

~Okay~ he admitted defeat on the subject, ~But how will we break it?~

~I'm not sure, breaking it should be easier than punching a hole in it, in some ways. I've evidently been doing that for years! And it is *my* mind after all, that should give me an advantage.~ she deduced.

~Yes, but *what* will we break it with?~ Sakura thought for a moment, then asked:

~You said that my magic *won't* go through?~

~Not unless you punch a hole first~

~Well, magic can be a force, right?~ she had that light in her eyes that meant: I-have-a-potentially-dangerous-idea, and Syaoran got a little worried. 0:56

~Sakura? What are you going to do?~ He ventured cautiously. But Sakura didn't answer him, she was busy. She closed her eyes (metaphoric-- Oh! Never mind!) and searched for the place in her mind that had her magic. The sensation was so odd, that it almost broke her concentration, because, instead of looking *inward* to find her magic, she was looking *outward*. _Creepy_.

It took her a few precious seconds to get used to this new way of 'sensing', but she soon had the hang of it, and began her search. It amazed her how quickly she found her 'pool of magic' she supposed it was due to the fact that she was *inside* the 'glass' and not separated from it. It seemed to her magical senses to be a shimmering liquid, filling the base of the bubble-like structure they were standing in, she did *not* want to think of what would happen when the 'glass' broke and all that liquid magic was dumped out of the bubble, and into her mind. She would think about that later, if she could think at all. 0:45

~I found it!~ she said triumphantly, opening her eyes to see a concerned Li Syaoran.

~Found what?~

~My magic!~ He had been afraid of that.

~Sakura, do you know how dangerous it is to work with *raw* magic?~

~Not really~ well actually Kero had mentioned something to that effect, but he hadn't explained everything. And it didn't really matter, she was going to do it anyway.

~There has to be another way! You could burn-out!~ Well, that *did* sound dangerous.

~Syaoran, I know your worried about me, but we don't have time to go over the rules of raw magic usage right now! I'm going to do this, move over so I have a clear shot at the barrier.~ Syaoran reluctantly moved aside, and a little behind her. If he couldn't stop her, at least he could support her.

~Can I help?~

~Not really. Just stay back and let the damsel do the rescuing.~ 0:30

Sakura planted her feet firmly on the floor, holding her arms down at her sides, her palms facing in the same direction. She reached, with her magic senses, down through the ground until she hit the pool of magic, then she grabbed some and *pulled*. She felt the magic rush up to meet her, absorbing through her feet, and jumping to her palms. She started to glow. Not one color, but many, one fading into another. The light became so bright that Syaoran had to squint to keep his eyes on her. 0:25

When she felt she had enough, she cut off the flow, glad when the unused magic fell back to collect in the pool. Then Sakura raised her hands to point at the barrier that was endangering her beloved's life. She gathered all the magic she had, with her desire to save Syaoran, and *pushed*. The power flew from her body to hit the barrier. The initial impact created millions of tiny fissures in the 'glass' that quickly spread outward and out of sight. Then the cracks were filled with her magic until the barrier resembled a stained-glass window veined with sunlight. Finally, with a huge sound of breaking glass, it shattered. The sparkling pieces raining to the ground before they disintegrated. 0:19

Sakura didn't waste any time. As soon as the barrier started to come down, she grabbed Syaoran by the hand and ran full tilt for the light she could see, just ahead. They were going to make it! 0:14

Syaoran, being dragged behind Sakura, was looking at his Cherry Blossom with a feeling close to awe. It never failed to amaze him what Sakura could do when she was protecting someone close to her. He hoped she didn't have to deal with any consequences for saving him. 0:06

  
  


Watching:

Three pairs of eyes, and one video camera, were glued to the couple still in the middle of the spell circle.

"How long have they been like that?" Madison asked.

Touya looked at the clock before answering, "About 6 hours now."

"Oh" Everyone was silent for a few minutes.

"Is it just me, or does Syaoran look a little, ummm, gray?" Kent wondered. So Kero explained, to Kent and Madison, about the dangerous spell Syaoran was casting.

"Oh, no!" Madison whispers, after hearing of her best friends' plight. She kept her camera riveted to the Card Captor pair, waiting for any change. A few more moments passed in silence.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Kent finally asked.

"Well *I* can't think of anything! Sakura could probably break a High Magic circle, but I can't. And, as you can see, Sakura is hardly up to..." Kero trailed off.

"What? What is it, Kero?" Madison frantically inquired.

"Something's happening." His words were accompanied by the screeching sound of breaking glass.

"Look!" Madison pointed, "Sakura's glowing!" it was true, Sakura was surrounded by a bright light. But they were soon diverted by a faint gasping sound. They all turned their eyes, and camera, toward Syaoran to see his body jerk once then fall from his sitting position to land flat on the floor. While Sakura's eyes were opening, his were fixed and staring at nothing. Around them the binding circle flickered, and died. 0:00

To Be Continued ^_^


	29. Twenty-Nine

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for 

explanations)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Authors Notes: Come on! You didn't really think I'd kill Syaoran, did you? ^_~

  
  


Chapter 29:

Syaoran blinked as the energies he had used to build the binding circle returned to him, at his biding. He sat up and shook his head to clear it.

"Whoa! What a rush!" he said, beside him, Sakura sat up also.

"Ya, I know. That last part was kind of fun!" she paused, "Let's *never* do it again!"** Syaoran nodded. That was *definitely* something he didn't want to repeat! Ever!

"Yea! They're both alright!!" Madison squealed. She handed her camera to Touya and rushed forward, hugging Sakura, then Syaoran, "I'm so glad!" she got her camera back and continued filming.

Kero zipped up to his Mistress and sat on her shoulder, hugging her neck, "Me too, Sakura. We were worried." Next Sakura's father and brother gave her hugs, Touya's followed with: "Don't worry us like that, Monster!" Sakura: "I am *not* a 'Monster'!!" Then Sakura turned back to Syaoran.

"So.... You're okay?" She asked.

"Yep, back in my body, everything's fine. You?"

"I feel a little odd," they both looked down at her still glowing skin.

"Ummm, Kero?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Do you know anything about a barrier in my mind, to hold my magic?"

"I might, why?"

"Because, I...... Well, I kinda broke it."

"You.... BROKE IT!!!! WHAT?!!?!!?!"

"I had to!" Sakura yelled in her own defense, "It wasn't going to let Syaoran out! And his body was dying!"

"Okay," Kero took a deep breath, "I can understand that. It's just that this gives us a whole new set of problems." *sigh*

"So you *knew* about the barrier?"

"Well, umm, ya I did"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't ready yet!"

"Oh," Sakura thought about the gigantic pool of magic in her mind and decided Kero was right. She hadn't been ready for it, she still wasn't. She wondered if anyone could ever *really* be ready for that kind of power. Then she decided, with her usual determination, that she would *have to* be ready for it. She would get Syaoran and her Guardians to train her. The magic was hers, she would deal with it, but there was something else that worried her.

"Kero, do you know who put the barrier there?" who had that much power over her mind?

"Yes, I know. But are you sure you want to?"

"Just tell us who did it!" Syaoran demanded.

"Clow Reed" All was silent for a few seconds after Kero's declaration. Syaoran used the time to idly wonder how many times a person could go into shock in *one* day. Then the silence was broken by five voices yelling: "WHAT!?!" all at once.

Touya: "The guy who made the Cards?"

Madison: "Isn't he, like, *dead*?"

Kent: "Will Sakura be okay?"

Syaoran: "But he's been gone for centuries! How did he know about Sakura?"

Sakura: "Can everyone be *quiet* please!?!!" she took a deep breath, "We need to stay calm here," ~Ya, just keep telling yourself that, Sakura~ "I'm sure Kero will explain. Right Kero?" Kero nodded, and, at Madison's suggestion, they all moved into the livingroom. After everyone was comfortable (Sakura and Syaoran were sitting together in a big cushy chair ^_~) the Card Mistress gestured for Kero to commence.

"Well, I guess we should start at the beginning," Kero crossed his little, stuffed, arms and legs, going in to his 'lecture' mode. "Master Clow had strength in two different kinds of magic. One was precognition, Clow could see visions of the future.

"At first the visions only lasted a few moments, and told of events to happen in the coming days or weeks. Eventually the visions themselves would last for days, showing Clow events far into the future. This was how he knew about Sakura."

"Visions about me?" Sakura remarked, "What kind of visions?"

"From what Master Clow told me, his primary visions of you, were two ways you could die."

*gasps all around*

"Ways I could d-die?" *gulp*

"Yes. The first would have happened when you were eleven. Your powers somehow awakened, and you had no control over them."

"What happened?" Syaoran asked, although he thought he knew what would have happened. He knew that untrained, out of control, magical power, would usually cause something like, 'Spontaneous Combustion'. But, with Sakura's level of power, it would have been more like, 'Spontaneous Combustion' of *Tokyo*.

"Her uncontrolled magic caused an explosion that destroyed the house and took half the neighborhood with it." Sakura tried to decide whether or not she could allow herself to cry. She knew that what Kero was describing hadn't happened. But, the possibility that it might have, was upsetting. People could have died because of her.

"And that *definitely* would have happened?" she asked.

"That brings us to the other scenario. Clow also saw what would have happened if you gained control of your power."

"I could have gained control without Clow's spell?" then why had the house blown up?

"Well, you couldn't have, on your own. In that possible reality Syaoran's family moved to Japan, I forget why. Hmmm. Anyway, he was able to help you." So she and Syaoran might have met, even without the Cards. That was...... Interesting.

"So, everything was okay?"

"Not really. Syaoran did help you to control your magic, and even to use it a little. But he could not provide the level of training you would need."

"Need for what?"

Here you go Kero, *deep breath* "Training you would need to save the World."

To Be Continued ^_^

** I got this idea (I'm not sure if it's a quote, exact or otherwise ^_^) from an Animorphs book by K. A. Applegate. I don't own her books either.


	30. Thirty

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

still more, explaining)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Thank you for the Reviews!!! =)

  
  


Chapter 30:

Sakura: "Training to......"

Syaoran: "Save................"

Sakura: "The................."

Together:"WORLD!?!?!!"

"Yes, but Syaoran couldn't give you the training for that." Kero answered them.

"Save the world from what?" Syaoran asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Now, that brings us to the second way she could die. Clow also had visions of an evil so great, it could destroy the world. And Sakura was the only one, in this day and age, with enough power to stop it."

"But I didn't have the proper training," Sakura said, already seeing where this was going.

"Right, you and the Kid tried to fight it, but you were killed Sakura, and the world was destroyed."

"What about the vision in which I died at eleven, did the evil still come?"

"Yes it did. And destroying the world was much easier for it to do, without you there at all." They were all quiet for awhile, absorbing the implications of a Sakura-less world, then Kero continued with his tale.

"Clow knew that the world could be destroyed, and Sakura could stop it, given the right tools. Master Clow could see the elements that Sakura would need: Control of her magic, training in the same, and Li Syaoran."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you helped her before, the two of you were almost a match for the evil. Clow decided you would have a better chance together."

"I'm glad I'm here to help you," Syaoran whispered to Sakura, taking her hand.

"Me, too," she returned, giving his hand a squeeze. Madison squealed (again) keeping her electric 'eye' trained on the pair, she was happy she had thought to put a new battery in her camera, that morning. Touya, witnessing the hand-holding, growled a little. Kent just smiled, it was good to know, that with all this dangerous magic his daughter was involved in, she had someone so devoted to her safety. Kero gave the Card Captors another moment to gaze google-eyed at each other, then continued:

"So, Clow came up with a plan that would A): Control Sakura's magic until she could use it, B): Train and prepare her to meet the coming evil, and C): Get Syaoran here, and get them used to working with each other."

"What was the plan?" Kent asked.

"The Clow Cards." Shocked silence.

Sakura: "What?"

Syaoran:"How?"

"Mater Clow's second gift of magic was creating magical objects/beasts. Each Card was made to help Sakura use her magic in different ways, the Book was made to hold them until Sakura was eleven, I was made to help guide and protect you, and Yue was made to test you, and to protect you." When no questions rose out of this next shocked silence, Kero continued (again):

"Until Sakura opened the Book of Clow, the Cards had almost no power. But the moment she opened the cover two dormant spells were activated. One of these spells siphoned power from Sakura, channeling it to me, the Book, the key, and the Cards so they could escape. The other spell placed the barrier around the magic she had left, before it could grow again, safely containing it."

"The Cards were *supposed* to escape?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, the Windy was carefully left on top, so you would pick it up first. The Windy was also the first to get powered up. When you said it's name it triggered the release of the rest."

"Why?"

"So you would catch them, and Syaoran would come to Tokyo. The Time of Catching was for the two of you to grow into an effective team and learn skills you would need. The Time of Testing was, well, to test you. And the Final Test, was you, Sakura, absorbing the Cards (although it wasn't supposed to happen that quickly) and learning to use your magic directly, without having the Cards as a go-between."

"So, I was always supposed to be the Card Captor?" Sakura was still amazed.

"Why do you think the sealing wand was *pink*?" Good point.

"What now?"asked Kent.

"Well, since Windy said that the evil was coming, we don't really have a lot of time to prepare. We *might* have time to help Sakura practice using magic without the Cards, but I doubt it."

"Won't it be just like using the Cards?" Sakura wondered.

"No. *You* will be casting the magic yourself, not using the Cards. And, since you broke the barrier, you are in direct contact with your magic at all times, that's going to take awhile to adjust to. It's also going to cause problems, you'll have to keep a close watch on what you say and do."

"Why?"

"Sakura," *sigh*, "Say: 'water'"

Sakura shrugged, she didn't see the point, but if Kero thought it was important, "Water"

*=*=*=*=*=*=*KERPLOOSH*=*=*=*=*=*=*

To everyone's surprise (including Kero, he didn't expect *that much*) a bathtub-full of water appeared out of _thin air_ and dumped onto Sakura and Syaoran.

"Ahhhhhh!!" shrieked a drenched Sakura.

"Ahhhhhh!!!" echoed an equally saturated Syaoran.

Together: "KERO!!!!!!!!!!"

"I'll get you for this, Stuffed Animal!" Syaoran yelled.

"Kero! No video games for a WEEK!!" Sakura added.

"Nooooooooooo! Sakura, I didn't know that would happen! It thought it would only be a little water, honest...."

To Be Continued ^_^


	31. Thirty-One

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

fire damage)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


I like the Reviews...... Thank You! =)

  
  


Chapter 31:

Luckily Sakura's father had packed some clothes for her, so she had something dry to change into. And, since this was his apartment, Syaoran wouldn't have any trouble finding attire that was........ less damp. Sakura was already changed and was currently sitting on the edge of the tub, toweling her hair dry. But she wasn't really paying attention, so her hair was starting to resemble a baby chick that got dunked then assaulted with a blow-dryer.

Instead Sakura was thinking about what Kero had, and hadn't, said. She was about to ask Kero if there had been anymore of Clow's visions involving her and Syaoran, when the water fiasco made her forget her question. There were many other frantic thoughts also bouncing around in her head. How could they fight this? They didn't even know what it was! And Sakura had never felt less confident in her own magical powers. Which reminded her of something else Kero had said. Sakura absently folded the towel she was still holding in half, draping it over the towel-rack to dry. Then she left the bathroom and went looking for that floating fluff-ball. She had some questions, and she wanted answers.

She went down the hall and into the kitchen. Someone had wiped the chalk marks off the floor, but they hadn't been able to get the wax from the candles up. Sakura hoped it didn't come out of Syaoran's deposit. The table and chairs were also back in the kitchen, which was where Sakura located Kero.

"There you are," Kero said, coming to land on the table next to a candle that was taller than he was. It was a plain white taper, held securely in a pewter candlestick. "This is where we start practicing," Kero explained, giving the candle a little pat. *sigh* It seemed that her questions would have to wait.

Sakura pulled out a chair, and sat down at the table. She was resigned to her fate, she needed to get used to this magic, fast.

"What do I do?" she asked her Guardian.

"I want you to light this candle," he indicated the object again, "using magic."

Touya came to stand on the left side of the table, Syaoran, who was wearing dry clothes in the form of jeans and a green T-shirt, on the right. They both held fire extinguishers, and Sakura began to feel uneasy.

"Kero," she asked, "will what happened with the wa..."*gulp* ~Careful not to say 'water', Sakura~ "what happened in the livingroom, happen this time?"

"It might, that's why we have the extinguishers, but I don't think so. I'll walk you through it, we'll take it step by step, and I have every confidence that you'll avoid frying us all," he gave her his most reassuring smile, which always looked kinda funny on his cute little face. But it did help her feel better, and she was grateful for that.

"Okay, what's first?"

"First, I want you to go into a semi-trace, like I taught you to do when you were sensing for Clow Cards." She closed her eyes and did as he asked. In front of her she felt the small sun of power that meant 'Kero'. To her left was a faint trace of Moon magic. Sakura realized she was sensing her brother's link to Yue. Which meant that her magic senses were also increased, as she had never sensed it before. To her right the Card Mistress sensed the warm, affectionate pull of Syaoran's magical aura. She almost smiled at the feelings of concern and support coming from him. It made her remember, what seemed like eons ago, but was probably less than 12 hours, when she had declared her love for Syaoran, in front of Guardians and family. She wondered how he felt about her, making a mental note to talk to him after this was over. If they were still alive, that is. *sigh*

"Stay relaxed Sakura," Kero voice came floating to her, "and turn your senses on yourself, tell me what you see." Again she did as he asked. She was almost blinded by the 'sight' of her magic, now flowing through her veins and giving her skin a physical glow. Looking at it this way, it was easy to see why her magic was now visible, it was just too *bright* to stay within the magic spectrum. So it was spilling into the real world where anyone, magic or not, could see it. She tried not to think of what would happen if she went to school, glowing like a beacon. She told Kero what she saw.

"Now, look in your magic for the place where the Cards are." She found it quickly, the place was more 'cardy' than the rest of her magic.

"Found it."

"Good, now make contact with the Fiery Card."

~Fiery, are you there?~ she got an instant response.

~Yes, Mistress? What do you require?~

~I'm not sure, Kero's having me do an exercise~ she explained, ~How are you guys doing?~

~Oh, we're fine Mistress. We've been playing charades~

Charades? ~Who is winning?~

~Well, the Illusion *was* winning, but it was disqualified for cheating.~

~Cheating? The Illusion? How?~

~Well, how hard is it for people to guess you're a tree, if you turn into a tree?~

~That makes sense~ in an odd way ~So, who's winning now?~

~The Silent Card, it's got experience communicating without words.~

~True~ back to business ~I'm going to see what Kero wants us to do. Be back in a second.~

~I'll be here Mistress.~

"Kero?" she spoke aloud, "I found Fiery."

"Good, now remember what I told you? About why Clow made the Cards?"

"Which part?"

"That the Cards are here to help teach you how to use different parts of your magic?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Great! The Fiery can teach you how to do fire magic. Now ask it to show you how to light this candle." Sakura turned her attention inward again.

~Fiery?~

~Yes, Mistress?~

~Kero wants me to light a candle with fire magic, he says you can show me how.~

~Of course, Mistress. If you could move over?~

~Move over?~

~I don't have a body, remember?~ she felt it smile.

~Oh, right! Sorry, I'll move~ she couldn't explain how she did it, but suddenly Sakura _shifted_ to the side, allowing Fiery to take control.

The Fiery opened Sakura's eyes, which was very odd for Sakura. She could see through her eyes, but had no control over her body at all. But she didn't panic, she trusted Fiery, and Kero. They knew what they were doing, right?

~Okay, Mistress watch closely.~ She did as it asked, listening as it described what it was doing. Sakura was glad that it continued to speak to her in her mind, and not out loud, even though it could have. Hearing her own voice talking to her would just be *too* weird.

Sakura's/Fiery's eyes focused on the candle's wick. The Fiery kept up a running commentary of it's actions for Sakura, as it pulled the potential for the element of fire out of the air. Then touched it to the wick, which burst into cheery flame.

~Did you get that?~ asked the Fiery as it moved back to let Sakura take control again.

~Yes, I think so.~

"Now you try, Sakura," Kero said drifting up to snuff out the candle.

Sakura closed her eyes to concentrate better, visualizing the wick in her mind. She tried to recreate Fiery's actions exactly. Searching with her mind to find *just* the right kind of oxygen molecule. Hey, there was a bunch! They felt like they *wanted* to burst into flame, she was happy to help them. Sakura slowly brought the molecules to touch the picture of the wick she still held in her mind. She'd done it!

But, right before Sakura opened her eyes, she heard the unmistakable sound of two fire extinguishers going off at the same time. Her eyes opened quick as, well, a wink. She found a world made white by the patented effervescence of fire-extinguisher foam.

In the middle of the table stood a slightly singed Kerberos, next to a puddle of melted wax. "I think you need more practice, Sakura."

To Be Continued ^_^


	32. Thirty-Two

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

foam revenge)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Thanks, Reviewers!!! =)

  
  


Chapter 32:

It took 1 hour, 2 empty fire-extinguishers, and 6 candles that would never be the same, but she had done it. Sakura had managed to light a candle, using nothing but magic.

"You did it, Sakura!" squealed Madison as she stated the obvious. The Card Mistress' friend had entered the room shortly after the demise of the first candle. Since then, she had been determinedly filming events as they unfolded.

"Yes, she did it. Finally!" Kero growled, the Sun Guardian was *not* happy. Looking at him, Sakura could hardly see the original color of his fur, buried under all those layers of soot and flame-retardant foam.

"I'm sorry Kero," she said, wincing when she saw the singed tip of his tail.

*sigh* "It's okay, Sakura. Just help me get this stuff off," he floated off the table and moved toward the bathroom. As she followed him, Sakura noticed that his trajectory was listing a little toward the side where the foam coating him was the heaviest. If Sakura remembered correctly, that was the side that had been facing Syaoran. It seemed Syaoran had been aiming more for Kero, and less for the fires he was supposed to be extinguishing. Not that Sakura minded all that much (except that _she_ was the one who had to help the Guardian clean foam out of his ears) the Fluff-ball had deserved it. Sakura thought of the 'water incident', and smiled.

  
  


Sitting In the Bathroom Sink:

The sink was half-way full of warm water. Kero was sitting in the middle of the liquid, grumbling over his folded arms. Around him floated the sooty debris of Syaoran's 'revenge'. They had already drained and filled the sink twice, and the stuff still wasn't off yet! So they trudged on. Sakura was currently washing the foam from behind Kero's ears, with Syaoran's toothbrush. ^_~ Sakura decided that this was the perfect time to ask Kero some questions.

"Kero?"

"Ya?" *grumble, grumble*

"Did Clow Reed have any other visions about me and Syaoran? Like if we can beat the evil this time?" she dove right in.

"If he had any more visions about you, after he made the Cards, he didn't tell me."

"Oh," *sigh*

"Probably because it might have effected the outcome."

"Oh, okay," that was a little better.

"I'm certain he did all he could to insure you two would win this time."

"Right," silence while Sakura switched ears.

"Kero?"

"Ya?"

"About my skin, the glowing thing? Is that permanent?"

"Well, look at it now."

Sakura did as he said, and saw, to her surprise, that the glow had faded. From normal range at least, it still blazed to her magic sight.

"Kero?...... But how?"

"Doing magic. The glow tuned down a little after the water incident in the livingroom, and even more after the fire stuff in the kitchen."

"Will it stay like this?"

"No, after a few hours the glow will come back. And get brighter if you don't do any magic for awhile."

"Will it be like this forever?" _Would she be a glow-worm for the rest of her life?_

"It should get better, eventually. After your body gets used to all the power. And there are some illusion spells you can try. But it won't ever go away completely."

"N-Never?"

"Never."

"Why?"_ Why couldn't she be normal?_

"You have *a lot* of magic, Sakura. There are side-effects to having that much power in a human body."

Sakura thought about the first 'view' she'd had of her magic, hours before, in her mind. And she could understand what Kero was saying. But understanding didn't stop her from being upset about it. This would change her whole life.

"K-Kero?"

"Ya?"

_"What am I gonna do about school?"_

"Hey! Don't worry so much Sakura," he gave her a consoling pat on the hand still holding the toothbrush, "We'll help you. We'll *all* get together, when this is over, and figure something out. Okay?" he gave her another little pat.

"Okay," *sniff*

Sakura took a deep breath, and tried to be more cheerful. So what if she glowed like a radioactive corn field? She had people that cared about her. A few more moments passed in silence.

"Okay Kero, your done."

"Yeah!!" Kero, who hated baths, flew out of the water and landed on the counter. Bringing a puddle of water with him. Sakura giggled at his enthusiasm for getting *out* of the water.

"Kero! Careful what you drip on, your sopping wet!"

"I know, where are the towels?"

"It's too bad Syaoran doesn't have a hair-drier," Sakura commented as she turned to get Kero a towel, "What we really need, is a nice gust of wind to come through----"

"Sakura!!! NOOO!!!!" Too late.

"----here," Sakura finished, wondering why Kero was waving his little arms frantically. Then she realized what she'd said, and her hands flew to her mouth to cover a gasp. For endless seconds there was a silence that Sakura likened to the eye of a storm, a complete absence of sound. Then, as quickly as the sound had been sucked out of the space they occupied, it was back, screeching on the heels of the tornado force winds that blew through the room. The wind lasted long enough to knock Sakura off her feet, and Kero against a wall, then died suddenly.

Sakura sat up, pushing mussed hair from her eyes, and tried to assess the damage her mistake had caused, this time. To her surprise, the bathroom was still there. The wind had shuffled toiletries and towels around a bit, but that was all. She couldn't see Kero.

"Sakura!" Syaoran called as he skidded to a stop just past the open bathroom door, "What happened? Are you okay?" he helped her to her feet.

"You want to know what happened?!?" came Kero's irritated voice from beyond the counter, out of sight, "Sakura said **_"Wind"_**__, that's what happened!! Look what she did to my beautiful fur!!!!" he floated back into sight and landed, once again, on the counter.

Sakura immediately put her hands back over her mouth. Not to stifle a gasp this time, but to hold back laughter. Syaoran wasn't so polite.

"New look, Fluff-ball?" he sat abruptly on the ground, and laughed until tears rolled down his face. Sakura decided that it was nice to see him laugh that way, he didn't do it often. And it *was* funny. Sakura couldn't hold back a giggle.

"Hey!! It's NOT FUNNY!!!" Kero protested, now floating above the counter. They could hardly see his eyes, but they could tell they were flashing with justified anger. It only made them laugh harder.

Poor Kero had given a new definition to his hated nick-name: 'Fluff-ball'. He was a bristling ball of fast-dried fur, with wings, and a tail. Which was really all they could see of the Sun Guardian, the rest being hidden by the _fluffed_ exterior.

"I mean it!! IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!!" They kept laughing, "OOOHHHH!!!!! Someone find me a Brush!!!"

To Be Continued ^_^


	33. Thirty-Three

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

breakfast)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Thanks for all those Reviews! =)

  
  


Chapter 33:

Sakura and Syaoran had just emerged from the bathroom with Kero (who was brushed, but still slightly fluffy), when they heard a noise at the door.

"That must be Dad," said Sakura, "with the food."

It was soon discovered, that morning, that Syaoran did *not* have enough food for 5 people and 2 magical beasts. So Kent, being the 'adult', had elected to go shopping.

"Yeah!," Kero yelled, "FOOD!!!!"

Syaoran opened the door for Kent, who was almost overbalanced by two huge bags of food. Syaoran reached for a bag and helped transport the groceries to the kitchen.

"Is there pudding?!?!? Is there pudding?!?!?" Kero bounced along with them, Sakura trailing behind. She found it amazing how quickly her father had adjusted to Kero, who was like another kid at times.

"Yes, Kero, there *is* pudding. But you have to eat something healthy first." Kent answered.

"Ahh! Come on, Kent, please?" Kero tried his best 'puppy-dog' eyes. Sakura could have told him it wouldn't work. With kids like Touya and Sakura, Kent had become immune to the 'puppy eyes' trick long ago.

"No. You all have to keep your strength up if you're going to fight this, um, whatever it is. And that doesn't work if you eat only pudding for breakfast."

Kero plopped down on Sakura's shoulder, in defeat, "He better not make me eat vegetables," he mumbled.

"Don't worry," Sakura assured him, "It's breakfast, Dad will probably make pancakes."

"Yeah!! Pancakes!!!" Kero liked pancakes almost as much as pudding. ^_^

Touya and Syaoran had cleaned the kitchen after the, uh, 'fire' lesson. So Kent could start making breakfast right away. Syaoran stayed to assist, but the rest of them were shooed out of the room. They settled on the couch and chairs in the livingroom and waited, *almost* patiently, for the food.

  
  


After Breakfast:

Once Kero had eaten, (pancakes, eggs, bacon, *and* his pudding :), he decided he should give Yue a break and hold the Guardians' Barrier for awhile. He got some magic from Sakura, which was good because her skin had started glowing again, and changed into his true form. Resuming his seat on the floor in front of Yue, Kerberos slipped into a trance.

  
  


Magic Plain:

The first thing Kero noticed when he returned to the place where the Guardians did their magic, was that Yukito was gone.

~Hey! You finally got rid of Yukito!~

~Ya~ Yue said, smirking, ~You could say that.~

Kero was taken aback, since when did Yue _smirk?_ Then he shook it off, more important things, and all that.

~Syaoran got Sakura back okay~ he told his fellow Guardian Beast, ~And we got Sakura to light a candle with magic. Oh, I also filled them in on Clow's visions, and why the Cards were made. We ate breakfast, I got pudding!! ^_^ And now I'm here to watch the Barrier so you can take a break!~ Kero finished.

~Okay~ Yue shrugged, passing over the spell controls, ~See Ya Later!~ and he was gone, leaving a puzzled Kero behind. Something was different about Yue, but what?

  
  


Back to Syaoran's Apartment:

Sakura and Syaoran had been discussing the best types of 'Card Magic' to use on the coming 'evil' for about ten minutes now. Except that neither one was paying attention, so any progress in strategy planning was spotty at best. Instead, they were looking at each other, and trying not to let the other know that they were looking. And both were ignoring the fact that they had ended up holding hands again.

Ever since Syaoran had saved Sakura from her own mind, they had developed this little problem. When they were within a few feet of each other, their hands would latch together, seemingly without their permission. Sakura looked down at her and Syaoran's fingers, examining the way they threaded together. She decided she liked it. But it wouldn't do for them to be holding hands during the coming battle, someone could get hurt. She would need to talk to Syaoran about _not_ holding hands, but it could wait for later. Sakura gave her beloved's hand a squeeze, which was returned, and cuddled back into the couch they were sitting on. She would talk to him about it later....... Or maybe, never.

  
  


Birds Eye View:

Madison had her camera trained on Yue. It had been a hard decision for her, because her friends were just soooo cute together. But, when it came down to brass tacks, Yue was cuter. And she had spent the entire morning filming Sakura and Syaoran. Time for a new subject.

Yue had been sitting in still beauty since Madison had arrived, but now he was waking up, and she didn't want to miss a minute. So, she was standing there, camera running, when Yue's stunning purple eyes opened. She was ready with a close-up when he stood, stretched his gorgeous arms, flapped his wings a time or two, and yawned, showing his perfect teeth. *sigh*

Then Madison was on the receiving end of several shocking and unprecedented occurrences. First Yue..... Smiled at her!! Eeep!!!! Since when did *Yue* have a lady-killer smile? And then he....... told a joke!! Madison started to giggle, then she realized what had happened and her eyes widened in shock.

"Sakura!!!!!!!!!!!!" she called, surely this wasn't Yue!!!

Sakura, Syaoran, and Kent (who had been in the kitchen washing dishes), ran over to Madison and asked her what was wrong.

"It's Y-Yue," she stammered, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating, "He's got to be possessed or something!!"

The group looked back and forth between Yue (who had an obviously contrived 'I'm innocent' look on his face), and Madison who had *dropped* her camera!!!! This was serious!

"Madison," Sakura put one arm around her distressed friend, "Tell us what happened."

Madison took a deep breath and tried to explain, "Yue told a joke."

Well, yes, that _was_ shocking. But Yue had told jokes before, why would Madison think Yue had been body snatched?**

Madison could see that they needed more convincing, so she dropped the other shoe, "You guys don't understand! Yue told a joke!! And IT WAS FUNNY!!!!!!!!!"

Sakura and Syaoran's jaws fell in stunned disbelief. Then Sakura took action. Taking her arm from around Madison, after giving her a reassuring hug, Sakura walked forward a few steps, grabbed the collar of Yue's ornate blue and white outfit, and jerked him down to stare menacingly into his eyes, "Who are you?," she growled, "And what have you done with my Moon Guardian?!?"

To Be Continued ^_^

**Just to let you know, I do not own that movie, _Invasion of the Body Snatchers._ As long as that's clear =)


	34. Thirty-Four

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

scary stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author's Notes: Okay, now I've read _a lot of stuff,_ both books and fanfiction. Mostly Science Fiction/Fantasy. So I've read a lot of descriptions of various bad guys and monsters, most of which is still floating around in my head. The point is, while I'm pretty sure the 'monster' in this fic is completely of my own invention, it was probably influenced by some of the said descriptions. So, any resemblance to books/fics out there (alive or dead) is purely coincidental, and not to be taken seriously. `K? ^_^

  
  


Thanks for all those Reviews! ^_^ You guys think I could get 100 by the last chapter???

  
  


Chapter 34:

"Mistress It's me, really!" Yue protested. His hands went up in a 'I'm harmless' gesture, to go with the 'I'm innocent' expression his face was still sporting.

"If you're you, why are you acting so strange?" Sakura demanded.

"Well, I'm more 'me', than the 'me' you saw, when you last saw me. You see?" the smirk was back.

"Quit goofing off!" Sakura pushed Yue back into a standing position, and folded her arms, glaring, "Just tell us what's going on!!"

"Okay! Okay! Calm down! It's just rather complicated, that's all," that smirk was still there. Sakura, who had always been a kind person, had to restrain herself from slapping it off his face.

"Yue! If that *is* who you are!" her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, Mistress?" he inquired politely.

"Talk. Now."

Yue examined the Card Mistress, and decided to be prudent, and explain. _Before_ she pounded him into the carpet. "I'm still me. But I'm Yukito now, too."

"What?"

"Yukito and I, well we're not a 'we' anymore, we're an 'I'"

Sakura's eyebrows rose in disbelief, "So what do we call you? Yuekito?"

"No, but it does have a nice ring to it," the return of the smirk.

"Just explain!" Sakura tried to remember why she considered Yue/Yukito to be a *nice* person.

"Okay, see if you can follow."

*Glare*

"Yukito was made from facets of Yue's psyche."

*Nod*

"When Yue was holding the Guardians' Barrier Yukito suggested that it would be better, energy-wise, if Yue stopped trying to keep their personalities separate. So, Yue absorbed Yukito back into his psyche, and now I'm 'me' again!" this time Yue gave a real smile, and Sakura knew he was telling the truth. However odd that truth was. For Sakura, odd was pretty much a daily occurrence, so she was sure she could adjust to this eventually. But there was one more thing she needed to know:

"How does you suddenly becoming obnoxious, fit into this little scenario?"

"Hmm, side-effect?" That smirk just had to go! But, before Sakura could tell Yue just what he could do with his smirk, they all heard a panicked voice from across the room. Turning they saw Touya, who had been keeping watch at the window.

"Um, guys?" Touya's attention didn't deviate from his view through Syaoran's blue curtains, as he talked, "I think you should come look at this."

"Look at what?" Syaoran asked, as they walked over.

"Look at the **_Big_** and **_Scary_**__, thing that's currently hovering, ominously, over Tokyo."

They all gathered at the window to see what Touya was talking about. Peering through the livingroom curtains, Sakura saw one of her worst nightmares. It covered half the sky, an opaque cloud of evil, blocking out the sun. Reminding Sakura strongly of it's minions, it was a tangible darkness. It's only discerning feature a huge pair of eyes burning a sickly yellow-green. Those eyes, located roughly in the center of the darkness, locked onto Sakura's and stared into her very soul.

_~Sorceress~_ She heard it's cold voice in her mind, hissing like a snake. _~Sorceress, you will not get away from me this time. Soon, I will have your power for my own.~_

Sakura started shaking. She had seen this, in her dreams. Dreams that she had discounted as nightmares, because she didn't want to face the truth. The dreams had been visions. And she could no longer deny what those visions had told her. She had *seen* what would happen if she failed to defeat this thing. She felt the responsibility of killing this evil monster, of saving the World, tighten like a band across her chest, choking off her breath. She had seen what this monster would do to the World if it got her power, and it was much worse than death.

  
  


Syaoran:

Beside him Syaoran felt Sakura start to tremble, he put a comforting hand on her back, "Sakura it's okay, we'll beat this thing, I know it," he winced at the trite promise, and wished he had something more encouraging to say. Wished he really _knew_ that it was okay, and that they would all pull through it alive. For the first time in his life, Syaoran was completely unsure of a battle's outcome. He didn't like the feeling.

"Syaoran." He leaned down to catch the words on Sakura's whispered breath. "Syaoran, I've seen this before." She had?!?

"Where?"

"A vision, I've had dreams, nightmares, about it for years." Uh-oh, this was really bad. Sakura's visions were usually right on the dot.

"Syaoran," her voice was even lower now, "it knows who I am. It wants my magic."

"Your magic? Why? To destroy the world, like Kero said?" Could it be? The Fluff-ball right about something?

"No, not destroy," She was past trembling, and on her way to violent shaking, "It feeds on pain, Syaoran, things have to be alive to feel pain. It wants us alive. And it wants to use my power to bring pain. To _everything._"

To Be Continued ^_^


	35. Thirty-Five

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

trembling in fright)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


I really like the Reviews! Thank You! =)

  
  


Chapter 35:

"............. It wants us alive. And it wants to use my power to bring pain. To _everything._" Sakura's voice had gained volume with her rising panic, so everyone standing at the window heard her last comment. *gasps of shock*

"Are you sure Mistress?" Yue questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure. I've been having nightmares about it for 2 years now."

"Always the same dream?" Yue clarified.

"Mostly," Sakura's features moved into a confused expression, "There *is* another one, and, somehow, I know it's important, but I can't remember it. It's like the vision has been *blocked*, and I cannot get access to it."

"Well," Yue said, when no one had ventured anything for awhile, "It knows who Sakura is, knows where we are, and it's almost here?"

Everyone nodded, this seemed a fair assessment of their situation.

"Alright, then I think we should......" Yue started.

"........ Run away again." Touya (who was just starting to notice Yue's strange behavior) finished for him.

"........ retreat," Yue concluded, more tactfully.

"Very quickly," Syaoran added. He did *not* want his Cherry Blossom fighting something that scared her so much. He ignored the little voice in his mind reminding him of what Kero had said concerning their chances of beating this thing without Sakura. Syaoran would find a way. They would think of something.

"No!" They were all stirred from their thoughts by Sakura's exclamation. "I'm not running again!" her voice, though still trembling in fear, now had an edge of steel to it.

"But, Sakura..." Syaoran began.

"No! No more running! If we don't defeat this now, it will follow us forever!"

All of the people standing at the window knew Sakura. Some knew her better than others, but they all _knew_ her. And they could see that she would not be swayed from this course. All they could do now was help her.

"Mistress?" Yue asked, "You have only begun to learn the use of your magic without the Cards. How will you fight?"

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out." Sakura felt much better, now that she had made a decision. There was no time for fear, they needed a plan.

"Yue, go hold the Guardians' Barrier again. I need to talk to Kero."

"Yes, sir! Mistress, sir!!" Yue gave her a mock-salute, and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Just DO it!"** Yue turned to comply.

"Wait, shouldn't he eat something first?" Kent gestured toward Yue with motherly (Whoops!) fatherly concern, "He's the only one that hasn't." (AN: That's right! Kent is on a **mission** to: _Feed Them All_!! Heeheehee!!! :)

"No that's okay," Yue answered, settling once again before Kero, "I don't eat in this form." Then he closed his eyes and was gone. Leaving Kero free to come back. Which he did, popping into his 'stuffed-animal' form as soon as his eyes opened.

"What's going on?" Kero asked as he drifted over to the group. In answer they all pointed at the window.

The Guardian Beast of the (used-to-be) Seal floated closer, looking out through the curtain Touya was still holding open. Sakura watched him freeze when he saw what was out there. Then there was a golden streak, and Kero was..... Gone!

"Kero!" she called, "Where are you?"

"I think he's there," Madison pointed toward Sakura's right shoulder. Now that her friend had mentioned it, Sakura could feel something clinging to the back of her shoulder, trembling.

"Kero? Is that you?" Sakura turned her head to the right in time to see Kero's little face rise into view, though only enough for his eyes to show.

"Kero?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Do you know what that thing out there is?"

"Y-Yes." He gulped in terror, which Sakura could feel, rather than see. So, Sakura gestured for Touya to drop the curtain. When that was done, Kero shifted so he was sitting on top of her shoulder, instead of hiding behind it. But he was still shaking.

"Kero, what is it?"

"I'm sorry I kinda freaked-out there for a second, Sakura."

"That's okay, Kero. I'm not doing that much better myself. Just tell us why you're so scared."

"Clow never told me what the evil looked like," the trembling ball-o-fluff explained, "He said I would know."

"Do you think this is it?"

"Well, I'm really scared. And very creeped-out. So I'm gonna say 'Yes' that's the evil Clow saw in his vision. Yep, definitely feels evil to me." Kero nodded.

Okay, now they were getting some where.

"Did Clow Reed tell you anything else about this, umm, monster?"

"Nothing specific, but he said I would recognize it, and I do. I've seen that type of 'monster' before."

"You Have!?! I thought there was only ONE big evil Sakura had to fight! Are you saying there are more?!!" Syaoran demanded.

"No, I'm not saying that! There *is* only one Really, Big, Scary, Evil Sakura will have to face," ~And a number of little ones, medium ones, and not-so-big ones.~ "I just meant that I've seen this *type* before. They were a lot smaller, lived a long time ago, and were relatively easy for a sorcerer to kill."

"Why were you so scared then?" Syaoran asked.

"Have you SEEN the SIZE of that thing?"

"Good point," Syaoran conceded.

"Plus," Kero continued, "I had a little, um, 'run in', with one when I was younger. I wasn't very strong in my magic yet, and it did some damage," *gulp*, "before Clow got there and saved me."

Sakura and Madison: "Oh! Poor Kero!!" The two girls gave the little Guardian Beast hugs, and consoling pats on the head. Syaoran waited politely, if a trifle impatiently, until Kero was sitting on Sakura's shoulder again, before he continued:

"Kero, what were they called?"

"Soul-Stealers," Kero gave another little shudder of fright, soliciting another comforting pat from Sakura.

"They steal souls?" asked a horrified Madison.

"No, that's just their name."

*pause*

"Then _why_ are they called that?" Sakura prompted.

"I'm not sure," Kero shrugged, "No one knows, really. The source of the name is shrouded in mystery." (AN: i.e. The Author thought it sounded cool ^_~ )

"If they don't steal souls, what do they do?" Syaoran wanted to know.

"Well," *gulp* "You see, they, um,"*tremble*, "They, uh....." _Thunk_

Sakura was surprised to feel Kero's weight slip backward off her shoulder. She quickly turned to see her Guardian Beast of the Sun sprawled inelegantly on the floor.

"What happened?" Sakura gasped.

Syaoran picked Kero up by the tail, and gave him a shake, "Kero's passed out," he reported, "from fright." *dun* *dun* *dun*

To Be Continued ^_^

**No, I do not own that old logo from Nike.


	36. Thirty-Six

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for, an

improvised explanation)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author's Notes: My sister pointed out that some of this chapter doesn't exactly jive with the show. Well, this *is* a fanfiction. In my universe, Sakura did all the magic herself, and the sealing wand was just a tool to help her get her magic past that barrier Clow put in her mind (remember that? :) Anyway, hope that didn't confuse anybody. Thanks for the Reviews! Now I have more than 100!!! :) Yay! Thanks guys! Now I feel all warm and fuzzy!! ^_^

  
  


Chapter 36:

To revive the slumberous Kerberos, the group decided to use an age-old remedy: Water. (Which, luckily, Sakura _did not_ say) Unfortunately, they could not decided how *much* water to use. Madison thought a sprinkle of water would do the job. Sakura, looking at the limp form still dangling from Syaoran's hand, thought a handful of the liquid stuff, would be better. Syaoran and Touya, oddly, both agreed, on the 'entire bucket' plan. Kent just stood there, amused. It was interesting to see these kids debate over how much water was needed to revive an unconscious stuffed-animal. He could have told them that the bickering was unnecessary, said Magical Beast was coming back, all on his own.

"Hey, Kid!! Let GO of my TAIL before I BITE you!!" Syaoran quickly complied.

Kero (now free) flew back to his Mistress and sat on her shoulder once again. The small Magical Beast picked up his tail and started to fluff the end, which Syaoran had quashed.

"You need to be more careful of peoples tails!" Kero lectured Syaoran, adding a glare for good measure. Sakura glared too, she wanted Syaoran to apologize.

"Sorry, Fluff-ball," Syaoran reluctantly ceded under his love's icy stare.

"You should be," Kero agreed. It seemed he had not even noticed the use of the hated nick-name, he was to busy getting the tip of his tail 'just so'.

While Kero made sure his tail was okay, Sakura was thinking about her dreams. From what they had told her, and from what Kero had said (pre-faint), she got the gist of what the Stealers could do. And she didn't want Kero to suffer anymore with the retelling.

"Kero," she waited til she had his attention, "Let's just say that Stealers cause 'unspeakable torture', and move on. Okay?"

Kero gave another little shudder, and nodded, "Okay."

"Right then, moving on. Kero, how did Clow defeat the Soul-Stealer?" Sakura asked gently.

"Well," *tremble*, "I was pretty out of it, but I think I remember lightning."

Sakura thought about that for awhile. The night before, in the park, she had destroyed the two minions with lightning (or Thunder). And, while she had sensed the Stealer coming before, after her little lightning storm, she had not sensed it anywhere.

"Umm," Sakura admitted, "I sensed the Stealer in the park last night."

Syaoran, Kero, Touya, and Kent: "You WHAT?!?!"

"Sakura! Why didn't you tell us?" Syaoran demanded.

"Because I knew you'd act like this! I didn't want to cause a panic!"

Syaoran, Kero, Touya, and Kent: "Good Point."

"Anyway," the Card Mistress went on, "After I fried the minion-monsters with lightning, it was gone. So, it must have been scared off by the lightning! That's how we can battle it!"

"That's a pretty weak plan, Sakura," Touya observed.

Sakura glared at her brother, "Do you have a better one?"

"Give me a minute, monster, I'm sure I can come up with one."

"I am not a MONSTER!!!!!!!!!" she kicked him in the shin.

"Stop it, you two!" ordered their parent, "We're saving the World here! Behave!"

Sakura and Touya (meekly): "Yes, Dad."

*quiet thinking*

"Kero?" Syaoran finally said.

"Ya, Kid?"

"You said I needed to help Sakura, right? That Clow said we needed to work together to defeat it?"

"Ya"

"I've got a spell that will, probably, amp-up my lightning spell. And Thunder should be stronger with Sakura's power released. Sakura and I can hit it at the same time. That should *at least* weaken it some right?"

"Hey! Ya, it should!" Kero smiled a little.

"And," added Sakura, "We can improvise from there. We usually do better that way, in any case." Syaoran, Kero, and Madison, nodded their agreement with the statement. Kent and Touya just stared.

"Wait a minute!" everyone turned to Touya. "Let me get this straight; Out there," he pointed to the window, "is a huge monster, with the cuddly name of 'Soul-Stealer'; An ancient sorcerer named Clow Reed had a vision it would destroy the world; Sakura and the gaki are the only things that stand in it's way; And you are going to IMPROVISE!?!?!?!"

"Yep," Madison answered.

"Are you all INSANE?!?!?!?"

"No, Touya, we are not 'insane'. I've, we've, been doing this for almost 6 years. We know what we're doing." Sakura insisted.

Touya looked like he would complain again, and Kero decided to do something.

"Hey! Come here," he gesture for Kent and Touya to follow him as he drifted a few yards from the group. When he thought they were out of hearing distance, he turned to face Sakura's family. He needed to explain before Touya undermined Sakura's confidence, that would *definitely* get them all killed. ~Or~ Kero thought of the one Soul-Stealer he had met in his life, ~worse than that.~

"Now, listen up," he began, "I've worked with Sakura and the Kid for a long time, and they didn't have a solid plan for most of the battles we went into. But they still won. I'm telln' ya right now, when those two 'improvise' it is truly a beautiful thing to see."

"Why is that?" Kent asked curiously. Touya just shook his head.

Kero remembered when Sakura had caught her first Card (the Fly); When Syaoran had saved Sakura during the capture of the Cloud Card; How fast they adapted to the Fiery Card situation; Sakura had told him how they had both caught the Sand Card; And worked together in returning the Freeze to it's Card form. Kero tried to think of a way to put that into words.

"This is kinda hard to explain," he admitted. Touya snorted skeptically, Kero shot him a glare. "But I'll try. First off these kids are *really* good at what they do."

"What they do?" Kent asked.

"Magic."

"Oh, right."

"And, while Sakura is a little better at it," Kero smiled in pride as he pictured the way Sakura had suddenly _known_ what to do on her first capture, the amazing roller-blade acrobatics that had enabled her to flip onto the Fly Card's back, the perfect place to capture it,"they both have inspirational intuition that's off the charts."

Kent nodded, Touya still looked skeptical. So, Kero decided an example was in order.

"Touya, remember when that false Sakura was running around?"

Touya nodded reluctantly.

"Well, that was the Mirror Card. When it lured you off that cliff," Kent gasped, he also remembered that incident, "Sakura _knew_ you were in trouble. _And_ she knew where to find you. She tracked your location until she got too worried to think straight, and then Syaoran was there to help her with the Lazen-board (AN: I don't think I spelled that right :). The point is, with only a few hints from me and the Cards, Sakura knew you were in danger, knew where you were, and deduced which Card it was."

Touya looked thoughtful.

"I was taught by one of the greatest sorcerers in history," Kero wrapped it up, "so I should know what I'm talking about here. Trust me when I tell you, if _anyone_ can beat the Stealer, improvising or not, these kids can."

Both Kent and Touya nodded this time. And Kero knew they would support his Mistress. Which was good, Kero had a feeling she would need it before this was over.

To Be Continued ^_^


	37. Thirty-Seven

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

wood-sprites)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Thank You! I really like the Reviews! =)

  
  


Chapter 37:

"Okay, we need to decide where to fight this thing," Syaoran looked out the window, "Quickly. I *do not* want this going down in my livingroom."

After a short time of contemplation, one word was said by everyone, at roughly the same time: "Park." They all nodded. (AN: For some strange, anime, reason, the Park, any park, anywhere, is always the _perfect_ place for a magical battle. Who am I to disagree? ;)

Once the imminent location was settled on, Sakura took a few calming breaths, then took charge, "Syaoran, how long will it take you to cast that spell to amplify your lightning?"

Syaoran thought about it. He had only done the complete amplifying spell twice before. Once when he learned it, and once back in China, when the Li clan had charged him to take care of a little wood-sprite problem (nasty things, wood-sprites). However, for the last few months, he had felt the need to improve his casting-time on this particular spell. So, he had practiced different parts of the spell, without actually casting it, until he was sure he could do it fairly quickly in an emergency situation.

"About ten minutes," he answered Sakura, with an adequate amount of certainty.

"Okay, Syaoran you do the amplifying spell." Sakura and Syaoran had to disentangle hands, that had inexplicably become clasped together again, before he could go get the stuff he would need for the spell.

Sakura turned to the rest of the group, "Kero you go back into the Barrier spell and tell Yue the plan, then the two of you take down the Guardian's Barrier. Do it slowly so we'll all be ready to go the minute it's down. And try to save as much energy from it as you can."

"Sure Sakura," Kero still had some magic from before. So, even though Sakura's skin was glowing again, he decided not to take power from her, she might need it later. After transforming, Kerberos did as his Mistress bid him.

Next, Sakura turned to her family, "Dad and Touya you get stuff together that we might need, like w-," she barely stopped herself from saying 'water', "something to drink and first-aid supplies. Then get the car ready." Kent went to the kitchen to pack a cooler, and Touya, with only a slight hesitation, went toward the bathroom in search of a first-aid kit.

Sakura turned around to find Madison directly behind her. Her best friend was holding a bag, that she had left by the door when she came in, and wearing a happy 'I-am-in-my-element' kind of smile. Sakura looked at the bag in trepidation. That wasn't what she thought it was, was it?

"I brought this just-in-case Sakura. It's my latest design!" Eeeep!! It *was* what she thought it was. Madison had a new _creation._

"Uh, Madison?" she said in a weak voice, "That's not a battle outfit, is it?"

"Yep! And you're going to love it! It's the latest style in Paris!!" Double Eeeep!! Sakura knew it was no use to run, Madison was faster than she was. And pleading wouldn't work either, Madison could do 'puppy-eyes' that put Kero's to shame. *sigh* Best friends were so high-maintenance!!

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on where you were standing when you looked at it, there had been one Madison-made battle outfit that Sakura really liked. It was the outfit she wore during the capture of the Twin Card. Made with soft material in the palest pink, Sakura's favorite color ^_^, this ensemble had been accented in elegant black ribbon. The long sleeved jacket had a train, ruffled like a dress, that fell past her knees in the back. The effect was completed with gloves, black shorts, and really tall black boots. There was, however, one part of the outfit Sakura could have done without, the hat. Sure it matched the jacket perfectly, but, for some reason, Sakura just didn't like hats. (AN: Hmmmm, could the reason be that the Author doesn't like hats?? :)

Sakura watched Madison as she happily dug through her bag for her newest creation, trying to keep the dread she felt from showing on her face. To herself, Sakura made a vow that if this outfit had bells and/or cat ears with a tail, she would *not* wear it. No matter how big and liquidy Madison's 'puppy-eyes' got.

But, when Madison showed Sakura the new battle outfit, she was pleasantly surprised by the results of Madison's imagination. For, by some great cosmic coincidence, this battle outfit was almost an exact duplicate of the one she had worn to fight the Twin Card, except for the color. Where the previous outfit had been pink and black, this one was black and white, everything that had been pink, was now white.

"Oh, Madison! I _do_ like it!" Sakura squealed giving here friend a hug, "But how can it be the newest rage in Paris? It looks just like the one I wore to capture the Tw-," Oops! she'd almost done it again, she had to watch what she said, "I mean the last capture that Myelin was with us on."

"No way!" Madison protested, "It's completely different!" Madison went on to explain why it was different. The biggest change, other than the color, was the material used to make the jacket, which was now a soft, snowy-white, crushed velvet. The other differences were slight; the waist of the jacket was a little lower, the shorts a little longer, the boots a tad shorter, and the gloves were fingerless.

"And," Madison said while excitedly rummaging through her bag for the final touch, "The hat has bells on it!"

~Oh no! Not a hat!~ Sakura thought desperately _~With bells?!?!?_~ *shudder* 

"Oh no!" Madison eerily echoed her friend's thought.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, trying not to get her hopes up. But the hat _could_ have been hat-napped by aliens, right?

"I left the hat at home!" :(

"Madison the outfit is fine without it, really!" ^_^

"Really?"

"Really," Sakura returned, with complete truthfulness, "It's already one of my favorite Madison-made, battle outfits. A hat might have drawn attention away from the elegant lines of the ensemble."

"Well," Madison, who was starting to cheer up again, admitted, "I _was_ having some doubts about the matchingness of the hat."

"There ya, go! Leaving the hat behind has saved you from a fashion disaster!"

"Okay," *sniff*, "your right. Thanks Sakura!"

"Anytime, what are friends for?" ^_~

  
  


10 Minutes Later:

When Sakura emerged from the guestroom, where she had gone to change into her new outfit, she found everyone ready to go. Yue and Kero had taken down the Guardians Barrier, Kent had packed food, water, and the first-aid supplies Touya had brought him. Syaoran had finished his spell, and put on his back-up Li Clan robes. This last part made Sakura very happy, she hadn't wanted to go through life without ever seeing Syaoran in his battle outfit again.

They gathered everyone together and trooped down to the car. But when they got there, they discovered another problem: Only 5 people could fit in the car. Madison hadn't been with them on the way over, so fitting Yue in had been no problem. Now it was a problem.

"Yue?" Sakura asked, "Don't you have an, umm, *smaller* size? Like Kero?"

"No, I only come in one size," Yue said sardonically.

"Arg!!" Yue was soooo annoying! Sakura stamped one foot in frustration, "Ohh! Yue! If only you were LITTLE!!!!" ***POP***

"Uh-oh!" Sakura had done it again.

"Hey! What did you do to me!! I'm TRAVEL-SIZE!!!!"

Sakura looked down to see a small sized Yue jumping up and down and yelling.

"CHANGE ME BACK!!!!! CHANGE ME **BACK!!!!**"

Sakura smiled, now Yue *would* fit in the car!! "No, I don't think so, Yue."

"WHAT?!?! What do you mean?!?!?"

"I think I'll leave you that size until we get to the park." ^_^

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

To Be Continued ^_^


	38. Thirty-Eight

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

chibi-Yue)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author's Notes: Someone asked why Sakura's father's name is 'Kent' in my fic. Well, back at the beginning of the story, I couldn't remember the dubbed name, and I didn't know how to spell the anime one. So I just started calling that character Kent. When I found out that his name, in the dub was 'Aden' (or something similar, thanks to the reviewer who told me that, by the way), I decided that I liked 'Kent' better. So, 'Kent' it stayed. ^_^

  
  


The Reviews are very nice, Thank You! =)

  
  


Chapter 38:

Sakura's Father's car was a medium sized sedan, of a make and model that had been top-of-the-line a few years before. The car, a nondescript white color, was no longer new, and some would have gotten a more up-to-date model by now. But Sakura's family loved that car. The whole family had picked it out, together, shortly before Sakura's mother had died. So, the car was special, and they kept it. They would probably drive it until it fell apart, for it was one of the only things left that could be associated with a woman they had all loved.

Kent got in the drivers seat, Touya took shotgun, and the other three piled in the back, Sakura in the middle. Little-Yue had calmed down, eventually. Because, Sakura had threatened to stuff him in Madison's video-camera carrying-case, if he did not behave. Currently the, rather small, Guardian of the Moon was sitting on Touya's shoulder. He was explaining to his *cough* friend *cough* about how he was now _both_ Yue and Yukito, wrapped-up in one 'magnificent bundle' (his words :).

Sakura rolled her eyes at her Guardian's antics. She hoped she would get used to Yue's new _attitude_ before she pointed a finger at him and said : 'Fire'. She smiled at the thought, Yue-toast.*evil grin*

"Hey, Sakura?" Kero asked from his spot on her shoulder.

"Yes, Kero?"

"Are you aware you're holding hands with the gaki?" he pointed down. Sakura followed his direction and saw that she was indeed holding hands with Syaoran. Again.

"Well, I am now."

"But you weren't before?"

"No, Kero what are you getting at?"

"So we could call it: 'involuntary hand-holding'?" Kero continued, ignoring Sakura's question.

"I guess so." _Not that she minded._

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since Syaoran and I came back from our side-trip into my psyche," she answered.

"So, not long then?"

"No, not very long," she agreed.

"Well, that's something at least," Kero mumbled to himself, Sakura heard him anyway, and so did Syaoran.

"Kero, what are you talking about?" Syaoran demanded.

"What? Nothing, really," the little Fluff-ball answered, nervously, "I think I'll go ask Yue something.... Bye!!" he zoomed off before either of them could protest.

The two Card Captors, and Madison, watched curiously as Kero landed on Touya's shoulder, next to Yue. Since Yue was so small, Kero had no trouble finding room. The pair of Guardians spoke in hushed voices, so the rest of the car couldn't hear them. But they had forgotten about Touya, who could hear every word, and was going cross-eyed with the restraint it took him to not loudly demand they explain themselves. Instead, he tried to calm down and listen, it might come it handy later.

  
  


The *drum-roll* Park:

Kent pulled the car to a stop in an almost abandoned parking-lot, by a section of parkland that was deserted. This particular park did not have added attractions, like a zoo or amusement park, just a plain stretch of land, with trees here and there, that was good for picnics and hiking. But, while it wasn't cold, it wasn't exactly warm either. Hardly weather for picnicking, or hiking. And the black cloud of darkness in the sky, made it look like rain, tut tut.**

~It's fortunate that no one else is here~ thought Sakura as she climbed out of the car, ~less chance of someone getting hurt.~ Well someone _else_ anyway, one or more of her little group was likely to get injured. Sakura looked up into the sky, the Stealer had almost caught up with them. As soon as they drove away from Syaoran's apartment, the Soul-Stealer changed direction to pursue them. Occasionally Sakura would hear it's taunts in her mind, telling her how it would take her power, but keep her alive, so she could see what it did to her family and friends. Her features turned grim, she could not let it hurt the people, and magical beasts (even the obnoxious ones), that she cared about.

"Mistress!!! We're here! Can you change me back now?!? PLEASE?!?!"

Yue flew over to land on her shoulder. He tried his best to look contrite, and unassuming, but couldn't quite pull it off, because that smirk made another appearance. Sakura shook her head is disbelief. That smirk was really gonna get him in trouble one day. She was determined to be around to see it.

"Alright, I'll try," she said, "Kero? Um, how do I make him normal size?"

"You might want to start by getting him off your shoulder," Kero flew behind her and knocked the object of the discussion off his perch, taking it for his own. Yue tumbled end over end a few times before righting himself.

"Why You!!!! When I'm big again, you're gonna get it! You stuffed-animal!!" Yue threatened.

"Ya, I'm like, so scared," Kero mocked. Yue, who looked really angry, struggled to articulate his vexation, but the best he could come up with was:

"Grrrrrrr!!!!!!"

Sakura tried not to laugh, Yue looked so _funny_. But allowing him to strangle Kero when he was 'big again', would just *not* do.

"Yue," she attempted a serious tone of voice, "I won't ch- C-H-A-N-G-E you back until you promise not to kill Kero. I need both of you for the fi--- Um, the F-I-G-H-T." she carefully spelled out the words that might activate any Card magic.

"Yes Mistress."

Yue unperceptively crossed his tiny fingers. Sakura hadn't said he was forbidden to exact revenge on the Fluff-ball _after_ the fight, now had she? He could wait.

"Now, Kero, how do I make him normal?" Sakura asked for the second time.

"Hmmm," Kero thought about it, "Well, I don't think you should try the Big Card, that would just cause more problems..."

"So we need something like um, 'un-little'?" Sakura asked.

"I'd say that worked," commented a now regular sized Yue. He stood up, glad to be his normal height again, and dusted himself off, "Thank you, Mistress."

"Sure...." Sakura said weakly. Would she ever learn to watch what she said?

"Okay people," Kero called, clapping his stuffed hands to get everyone's attention, "Battle plan?"

To Be Continued ^_^

** I don't own Winnie the Pooh, or Christopher Robin, or 'Little, black, rain clouds'. 


	39. Thirty-Nine

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

freaky stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Me like Reviews!! =)

  
  


Chapter 39:

"Sakura," Kero lectured, "you have to be very careful to spread your power around. If you concentrate to much on one kind of magic, it could drain you. Like what happened with Thunder."

Sakura nodded.

"So concentrate not only on what you want your power to do, but also on limiting the *amount* of magical energy you want to use. Got it?"

Sakura nodded again. The group was filing into their places for battle. Kero had come to get a power boost from Sakura, enabling him to transform. For some reason, he decided to stay awhile, and give her some advice. Now, the much bigger Kerberos, stretched his wings, flapped them a few times, said: 'Good Luck', to Sakura, and took off. Kero flew to Sakura's left, his destination a copse of trees some distance away. From here Kero would launch his assault.

Yue stood similarly camouflaged in a group of trees and bushes directly across from Kero, an equal distance to Sakura's right. The two Guardians would throw their respective fire attacks at the appropriate moment.

Sakura backed into her own position, glancing nervously around her. She was standing in an open area, with no cover. She was the bait. As the Stealer approached her, Syaoran would close in behind it, then they would all launch their attacks. Sakura would use Thunder, Syaoran lightning, and the Guardians fire. Thus, they hoped to trap, and destroy, the Soul-Stealer. Simple, right?

Sakura was trying to be optimistic.

Behind her, as far away as she could get them, was her family and best friend, also hiding in available cover. Sakura had tried to get them to stay farther back, but her brother and father were worried, and Madison wanted a clear shot of the action. There was just no arguing with some people! Well, okay, she _could_ argue with them, but they didn't listen! *grumble*

The trap was set, now all they could do was wait. And, as Sakura looked up at the coming monster, she knew they wouldn't be waiting long.

  
  


Soul-Stealer Central:

The Stealer could see the Sorceress, and her friends. They could not hide from it. The Stealer did not see in the normal way. It's eyes picked up a person's soul/aura/magical-energy, the brighter it was, the more powerful. And this little Sorceress' was the brightest it had ever seen. Other things, in the physical world, seemed to it's eyes to be vague outlines. It could see the two 'Guardians' cowering in dense groups of tree outlines. They feared it, they were hiding from it. If the Stealer had owned such a thing as a mouth, it would have smiled. It would get the Sorceress' power, and then her soul. For, contrary to popular belief, a being did not have to be alive to be tortured. And it wasn't called the 'Soul-Stealer' for nothing.

_Deep inside the Stealer's darkness, there were souls that knew the truth. They knew why this ancient monstrosity was called 'The One Who Steals Souls'. And why it's creations, from long ago, bore the name 'Soul-Stealers', for they were that in essence, if not in fact. The trapped souls wailed in agony, sensing the monster's plans for the brave Sorceress, her friends, and the World. They wished they could help, but knew they could do nothing. Hope was not a big thing around there._

(AN: Before you ask: No, the Stealer does *not* know it's walking, er floating, into a trap. Hey, I didn't say it was smart! Just really evil, and very mean.)

  
  


Bait Thoughts:

As the Stealer grew larger in Sakura's vision, the Card Mistress resolved that she needed a very quick way to scramble to safety, should the need arise. She had quite a few options available, all of them involving the Clow Cards that now lived inside of her. Sakura's favorite method of dodging danger had always been the Fly Card, but she was reluctant to use it. There was no way to, accurately, predict the results. What would it do? Turn her into a huge bird? Change her ears to wings? Call a bevy of doves with a lift basket?

Should she risk it?

None of the other 'get away' Cards provided a better option. So, Fly it was. Sakura closed her eyes (if her ears turned into big, fluffy, wings, she did not want to *see* it) and concentrated, trying to remember Kero's advice. She only needed a small amount of magic for this.

"Fly," she whispered. For an endless moment, nothing happened, then she felt a tingling on her back. Sakura opened her eyes wide, twisting to look over her shoulder. There, growing out of her shoulder blades like they had always been a part of her, was a pair of pure, white, wings.

~Cool~ she thought, flapping her new wings experimentally. Now, this was alright! She could fly like Yue!

Sakura smiled before turning forward again, only to 'eep!' in fright. While she had been goofing off, the Stealer had gotten much, _much_, closer. Oh, great! Wasn't that just the way of things?

_~Sorceress~_ Sakura again heard the hated voice echoing in her mind, _~give me your power, and I might spare your friends.~_ It giggled insanely, like it knew she had no choice. The Stealer would hurt them all, anyway.

Unless she could stop it.

Sakura spent a few seconds battling with that _'Fight, or Flight'_ thing. Then she shook it off and raised her hands if front of her, palms out, facing the (still giggling) Soul-Stealer. She was ready.

The thing was close enough, so that Sakura knew the others were also preparing to attack. They waited for Sakura's command to strike.

"Now!" she yelled as loud as she could, wanting to make sure they all heard her. Then she took a deep breath, separating out the power she was going to use, and called:

"Thunder!!"

To Be Continued ^_^


	40. Forty

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

uses of leverage)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Thanks for the Reviews! :)

  
  


Chapter 40:

"Thunder!!"

"Lightning!!"

Belatedly, the Stealer realized it had been lured into a trap. It was being attacked on two sides by lightning, and the other two by fire. As the Stealer writhed in pain, most if it inflicted by the Sorceress' power, it came to the conclusion that it could not beat the Sorceress in a one-on-one battle. If it wanted the Sorceress' power, it needed leverage. Suddenly, the Stealer noticed thousands of silver threads going outward from the Sorceress' soul and connecting her to something, or someone. It quickly followed these threads, struggling to concentrate past the pain it was experiencing. It found that the silver threads led to..... The Chinese Sorcerer that was attacking the Stealer from behind.

~Ah~ the Stealer thought to itself, ~Leverage~ The Soul-Stealer turned swiftly away from the nova, that was the Sorceress' power, and toward it's, less bright, target. Soon it would have what it wanted.

  
  


Sakura:

Everyone was startled when the Stealer suddenly turned around and swooped away. As it went past Syaoran tendrils of darkness emerged and grabbed him.

"No! Syaoran!" Sakura called, frantically trying to turn off the Thunder. Luckily, because she only had a portion of power invested in it, this didn't not take long. Then Sakura started running after the retreating Soul-Stealer.

"Hey! Give him back!!" At his point Sakura remembered that she had wings (mostly because they were creating drag) she beat them twice and went into a running take-off, which was surprisingly graceful, considering she'd never had wings before.

"Give him back, RIGHT NOW!!!" Sakura was shaking in anger. When would the bad guys learn not to mess with Syaoran when she was around?!?! She was about 20 feet above the ground when the Stealer answered her:

_~If you insist~_ then the Stealer dropped him.

"Nooooooooo!!!!!!" Sakura screamed in horror at the sight of her love's motionless body tumbling toward the ground five stories below him. She desperately tried to fly faster. If someone didn't catch him, he would die! And suddenly Sakura knew, with a certainty the froze her heart in her chest, that she could not make it to Syaoran in time. She wasn't fast enough.

"Syaoran! NO!" she sobbed his name. What could she do? Think Sakura! Think! Was there a Card she could use? No, not from this distance. From here all she could do was watch him die. Everything stopped, all her emotions suspended. Grimly she planned how she would take out the Stealer. She had every intention of going with it. She didn't want to stay alive, not without Syaoran.

Then the world started again, as Sakura saw Yue, with Kero seconds behind him, catch Syaoran right before he hit. She almost fell from the sky in relief. He was safe!

Sakura swiftly followed her Guardians, who were supporting Syaoran between them, to the ground. She landed as she had taken off, running. She dropped onto the grass beside an obviously unconscious Syaoran, frantically checking if he was okay. She put one hand to his neck. Yes! He had a pulse. And.... He was breathing!!

Sakura's sigh of relief was cut short as she examined her love closer. Something was wrong. What was it? She focused all her senses, magical and otherwise, on finding the problem. It didn't take her long.

"K-Kero?"

"What is it Sakura?"

"Kero, this *is* Syaoran, right?" she barely noticed her family and Madison dashing up to them.

"Yes, it's Syaoran. Why?"

"Kero.... I c-can't find his soul."

"What!?!? Let me see!" Sakura was nudged aside by the big winged lion, as he looked down at Syaoran.

"Yep, the body's here, but no one is home."

"But where is...." Sakura trailed off as her own soul answered the question. She felt the vague pulling, that she had come to associate with 'Syaoran', leading her in the direction of.... the Soul-Stealer.

"Kero!" she yelled in accusation, "I thought you said that 'Soul-Stealer' was just a name!"

"What do you mean?"

"Th-That THING," she pointed up at the cloud of darkness, that was hovering ominously again, "took Syaoran's soul!!"

"Really?" Kero squeaked in fear (an odd sound coming from a lion), *gulp*, "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure! My soul," she pointed at herself, "Is telling me that Syaoran's soul is UP THERE!!!" she pointed at the Soul-Stealer again.

"Oh," ~Well~ thought Kero, ~Her soul would know~

"Kero, WHAT DO WE DO?!?!?!"

"I don't know....um, wait! If you destroy it, that should release all the souls it, uhh, stole." *gulp*

"Kero, are you *sure* that would work?"

"Yes, almost, mostly. Yes... Yes, it will, I'm sure!"

"But, what if it....." Suddenly Sakura heard that insane giggling in her head again. As she looked at the startled faces around her, she knew that they could hear it as well.

_~Ha, ha! Have you found my little surprise yet?~_

"Give Syaoran his soul back!!!" she yelled defiantly.

_~Ah..ah, little Sorceress!~_ the Stealer chuckled, _~If you want your Syaoran back, I get your power.~_

"What!!??"

_~It's called~_ it giggled again, _~leverage~_ another giggle, _~lev--er--age, such a lovely word~_ that giggle had to go, _~It's simple. You give me your power, and I release his soul.~_

"What if I don't want to deal?" Sakura tried to sound threatening, it didn't work very well, she was too worried about Syaoran.

_~Then I'll just have to keep his soul. I don't mind really, I'm having such fun with it.~_

They all heard, in their minds, the unmistakable sound of Syaoran screaming.

"Stop it!!" Sakura cried, "Let him GO!!!"

_~Oh, I don't think so, not until I get what I want._~ repeat of insane giggle.

"THAT IS IT!!!!" Sakura screamed. Madison, who happened to have her camera focused on her best friend's face, almost felt sorry for the Soul-Stealer, in that moment. Sakura's eyes were blazing, her skin was glowing with the tempest of her power, even the air around her seemed to warp with the heat of her rage. And Madison knew that the Soul-Stealer would not have long to regret coming between Sakura and Syaoran. Nothing could face that rage, and live.

To Be Continued ^_^


	41. Forty-One

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

tense stuff)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


You Reviewers are so nice! Thank You!! =)

  
  


Chapter 41:

"THAT IS IT!!!!" They could all tell how angry she was. Although none of them, her family, her Guardian's or her best friend, had ever seen her *this* angry. It was kind of shocking. Their sweet little Sakura was in a killing rage, and the object didn't even seem to realize it. Which made this: One-Stupid-Stealer.

_~He'll die without his soul you know~_ It continued taunting the Card Mistress, oblivious to the mess it was in, and it just kept digging itself in deeper, _~I can even make him die faster. A little more pain and he will lose touch with reality, and his body. Bye-bye Master Syaoran~_ the Stealer said mockingly, _~The little Sorceress cares more about her magic, than she does about you.~_ The insane giggling recommenced.

Suddenly, Sakura went from seething anger to dead calm. She stood up, straightening her battle outfit, and brushing back hair that had come out of it's arrangement during the fight.

"This is your last chance," she shouted up at the darkness in the sky, "Let him go. Or I Kill You."

It's only answer, to her ultimatum, was another giggle.... Wrong answer.

Sakura's mind quickly formulated a plan. The Stealer had been injured by lightning, and by fire. Attacking it from more than one side had also been effective..... Until it ran (floated) away. So, she needed more of her, and she needed the Soul-Stealer to stay in one place so she could kill it. Okay, she had a plan. Now to execute it.

Everyone, except for Syaoran who wasn't really up to it, watched Sakura as she took a few steps forward to separate herself from their group

Yue: "Mistress...."

Kero: "Sakura....."

Both: "...Do you need us?"

"No," she looked back at them, over her shoulder, her eyes glinting with suppressed wrath, "This one's mine."

So, the Guardians stayed with Kent, Touya, Madison, and a supine Li Syaoran, while their Mistress walked away. When Sakura had put enough distance between herself and those who might get hurt, she stopped abruptly, this was it. Behind her, the people, and magical beasts, who cared about her watched with concern. What would she do?

"Twin!!" the Sorceress called. There was a blinding flash of light, and then, where before there had been one Sakura with a white outfit and wings, now there were two. The Sakura on the left was wearing the same battle outfit, but now it, and her wings, were tinted pink. The Sakura on the right was tinted blue. Now she was two people, both containing all her skills, and half her power.

The two Sakura's started forward into a running take off (which was the only kind she had done before) and launched into the air. They were completely in accord with each other's movements, although they could move independently, if they wanted. Which they proved as they swooped in different directions, soaring into opposite positions on either side of the Stealer.

_~What are you doing, little Sorceress? Trying to rescue the little Sorcerer?~_

**"I warned you,"** both Sakuras yelled in one voice,** "I can't give you my power. I have seen what you will do with it. But I also cannot let you have Syaoran's soul. If the only way to get him back is to destroy you, I will do it......... I warned you,"** they said again, before raising their hands to point at the Stealer.

**"Windy!!!"** they screamed. Immediately, opaque ribbons of wind shot out of their fingers to twine around the Soul-Stealer, trapping it between them. They released the magic, letting Windy's ribbons stay in place, holding their foe, then moved to the next part of the plan.

_~Nooooo! Let me go! I'll kill Syaoran if you don't!~_ the Stealer threatened, somehow this leverage thing wasn't working out exactly the way the Stealer planned it.

Sakura's (both of them) brows creased in worry and concentration. She had to attack the Stealer now, if she wanted Syaoran back at all. Could he hold on long enough? She knew that Syaoran had a very high tolerance for pain, it was one of the things that made him such a good fighter. But, everyone had a limit. How long before Syaoran reached his? 

~Please be okay, Syaoran~ she thought to herself, ~I need you.~ Then Sakura decided not to think anymore. It was _really_ odd having her thoughts running, simultaneously, in two different heads. It was time for action anyway.

Both the Sakuras extended their right arms, and pointed them, palm outward, at the Stealer between them.

**"Thunder!!!"** was shouted from two throats at once. White-hot lightning shot out of their hands, striking the Soul-Stealer and causing it to cry out in agony.

But the Sakuras weren't done yet. Now, they stretched their left arms out to join their right, in the same position.

**"Fiery!!!"** fire shot out of their left hands, joining with the lightning from their right. The two elements swirled together, spiraling toward the Stealer to produce a new, greater, impact.

_~Noooo!~_ The Stealers cry was nearly audible this time, and Sakura knew it was almost over. A great sadness filled her heart, for she did not like to kill, even evil things like this. Yet, in the last few weeks, she had been forced to kill several times to protect herself, and her friends. Today, she was killing to protect, not only her family and friends, but the entire World. The responsibility of this action loomed before her, the Universe was asking her to choose. By doing this, she was accepting her new roll as a warrior for peace. Acknowledging that she would kill to protect people and planet. Realizing that she would even kill a human, if there was no other way to prevent undue pain and suffering. Had Clow known this would happen? Had he seen it in his visions? Had he understood that, on this moment, would pivot the path to her destiny? Had he known what she would chose?

**"I warned you,"** the Sakuras whispered, one last time. Unnoticed tears trickled down their cheeks as they watched the Stealer between them implode, and disintegrate. Calling back her magic, Sakura perceived that, somehow, the destruction of this one evil creature symbolized, the ending of one era in her life; Where magic *was* dangerous, but also fun, and exciting; And the beginning of a new phase, where the power of her magic carried the heavy burden of obligation, which she could not shirk.

For a moment Sakura was depressed, she wondered how much impact Syaoran had influenced on her decision. If his life had not been in danger, would she have chosen to set foot on the path her life was now invariably on? From the space where the Stealer had been, a sparkle of lights caught her eye. Both Sakuras focused on it, and she had her answer.

Floating in the space between them were hundreds of dancing lights, the size of fireflies, in every color imaginable. Sakura abruptly realized that the Stealer must have stolen many souls before Syaoran's. Now that the Stealer was gone, here they were. They swirled around the Sakuras, creating their own slight breeze that carried faint words to the Card Mistress' ears:

_"...........thank......you......."_

_ "............sorceress................"_

_ "................thank................"_

_ ".............you............"_

_ "................we.............."_

_ "...........are.........."_

_ "..........free........"_

The lights, souls that had been trapped within the Stealer, circled around them once more and were gone. Yes, she would have destroyed the Stealer, and chosen this path, even if Syaoran's life had not been at stake. Because the Stealer was dead, those tortured souls were free. And that was reason enough.

To Be Concluded In The Epilog ^_^


	42. Forty-Two

"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (because,

it's over, *sniff*)

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*

  
  


Author's Notes: Thank You for all the Reviews, they really helped motivate me to write. Thanks! ^_^ I would also like to thank my Mom & Dad, and my sister, Birda-chan. They were great Beta-readers, and helped encourage me to keep writing (Love Ya!) Thanks Again! ^_^

  
  


Chapter 42/Epilog:

The twinkling firefly-souls, that Sakura had freed from the Soul-Stealer, swirled around them once more, and vanished. The Sorceress hoped they were going on, to a better place, she had a feeling they probably deserved it.

The Sakuras turned and began a slow (due to tired wings) descent. When they had dropped about half-way they noticed that Syaoran's body still wasn't moving. Sakura expected her love's soul to have returned to his body as soon as the Stealer was destroyed. But Syaoran wasn't stirring, and Sakura felt no pull in the direction of his body. Where was his soul?

The pinkish Sakura saw a flicker behind them and both Sakuras turned to see that not all the firefly-souls had disappeared, there was one left. It was trailing along behind them, like it _wanted_ to come.

**"Syaoran!"** the Sakuras gasped, smiling. There he was. The blueish Sakura, because she was the closest, reached over and grabbed the golden soul-light between her hands. The moment Sakura's blueish half touched the light, Sakura felt a warm, loving, glow envelop her.

~Uh, Sakura?~ she heard Syaoran's voice in her minds, ~Could you take me back to my body now, please?~ The Sakuras giggled. That was such a 'Syaoran' thing to say.

**"Of course, Syaoran,"** the Sakuras assured him, **"I was just headed back that way myself."**

They landed a little to the side of the group, standing around Syaoran's prone form.

"Took ya long enough, monster," Touya said in an attempt to, we assume, lighten the mood.

**"I am *NOT* a MONSTER!!!!"** the Sakuras stomped one foot in perfect unison, identical expressions of sibling rage on their faces. Touya, Yue, and Kero (who was, again, smaller-sized) looked on in wonder.

Kero: "Whoa!"

Touya: "That was......."

Yue: "......... the freakest thing I've ever seen."**

**"Arg!"** the Sakuras exclaimed, looking down at Syaoran's soul-light, still resting in the blueish Sakura's hands, **"I don't have time for this!"** As the Sakuras stalked by them on her way to Syaoran, one of her wings happened to, accidently, smack Touya and Yue (Kero ducked) in the face. It wasn't her fault, really. They should have been watching where she was going.

**"Syaoran......"** the blueish Sakura kneeled at Syaoran's left side, and the pinkish on the right, **"here you go. One soul, delivered."** The blue Sakura opened her hands and the soul-light slowly sank into Syaoran's chest. A golden glow strengthened Syaoran's aura into a physical illumination before it faded as Syaoran stirred.

  
  


The Recently Re-Souled:

The first thing Syaoran felt, when he came to himself, was pain. He felt like..... Well, he felt like his soul had been ripped from his body. Then, said body, had been dropped from a very great height, to land on something not-so-soft. Ouch! But, even this pain, was nothing compared to the torture that Syaoran remembered. He had been in a dark place, filled with nothing but pain so acute it became hard to hold on to his sanity. Syaoran was pulled back from this brink when a voice said: _'Bye-bye Master Syaoran. The little Sorceress cares more about her magic, than she does about you.'_ Syaoran heard this and almost laughed. Since when did Sakura care more about magic than her friends? Since NEVER! Sakura's loyalty to her friends was one of the things Syaoran loved the most about his Cherry Blossom. She would save him if it was at all possible. This knowledge enabled Syaoran to hold on, past the pain, until Sakura found him.

**"Syaoran,"** he now heard Sakura say, **"are you alright? Can you hear me?"** At this point Syaoran noticed a strange quality to Sakura's voice. It was...... _in Stereo?_

Quickly Syaoran's eyes fluttered open, then slammed shut again, just as fast. On one side of Syaoran there had been a Sakura-in-blue, and, on the other, a Sakura-in-pink. All Syaoran could think was: ~Not Again!!~

  
  


I Are Two:

Syaoran's eyes had opened for a scant second than closed again. What was wrong?

**"Syaoran are you okay?"** Sakura asked with two voices.

"Sakura," Syaoran's voice was faint, but strong, "I love you dearly. But, if this relationship is going to work, you have *got* to stop splitting into more than _one person!!_ I only want ONE Sakura." he reaffirmed, holding up one finger (even though he could not see it, his eyes where still closed) to illustrate his point.

Sakura felt a thrill go through her. Syaoran loved her! He had just admitted it! *And* he said they had a 'relationship'!! *happy-squeal* ^_^

**"Syaoran! I love you, too!**" Sakura was feeling slightly giddy, but in a good way. Both Sakuras leaned down to kiss Syaoran's cheek, on either side.

"Sakura!!" Syaoran, who had felt two, distinct, pairs of Sakura-lips, on his face, at the *same* time, complained, "You're still _two!_ I am not opening my eyes again until there is only _one_ of you." he finished grumpily, folding his arms and looking determined.

Oh, dear! It would seem Syaoran was still in a 'fragile state', and it just wouldn't do to distress him more. So, Sakura decided to comply. In any case, she was also tired of being one person in two places. Okay, now how to reverse the spell? Eeep!! She had no idea!!

**"Kerooooo!!!!"**

  
  


A Few Moments (And One Sakura) Later:

Sakura dusted off her white battle-outfit. Ahhh, that was better, she was all in one body again, and it had not been as hard as she feared to accomplish this. Kero instructed her to concentrate and pull back the energy she had used on the spell, which would cancel it. Sakura did as he said, only then remembering that she had done the same thing to call back her other spells, earlier. And, while she was at it, she had called back the Fly spell too. So, no more wings, she was normal Sakura again.

"Syaoran!" she called, from the few steps distance she had gone to do the cancel spell, "I'm one again!" she went back to his side.

"Good," he mumbled, smiling. Syaoran sat up, opening his eyes, and Sakura helped him to his feet.

"Did you mean it?" she whispered, "You love me?"

"Yes I do," he confirmed, "and I'm glad you're okay." he gave her a hug, which Sakura returned.

"Mmmm, this is nice," she said, from within the warmth of his arms.

"Yes it is," he agreed.

It was then that Sakura got a slightly wicked idea, "Syaoran?"

"Yes, Sakura?" he pulled back to look at her perfect, single, face.

"Um," she blushed, "Can I have the rest of my first kiss now?"

Syaoran was ecstatic: "Sure Sakura, whatever you say."

So was Sakura: "I say: 'Stop talking and kiss me!'" ^_^

Kent and Yue were tolerant: "Teenagers," Yue commented. Kent nodded in agreement.

Madison was taping: "A kiss!! And I'll get it on video!!" ^_~

Touya was furious: "Gaki!! You keep your lips away from my sister!!"

And, Kero was impatient: "Sakura, you need to tell me what happened!"

Kero's comment came right before their lips touched, "But Kero!!"

"It's important, Sakura," Kero was sensing that something, in this battle, had not been 100% compatible with Clow's vision.

"Oh, alright! But!," she looked around at her family, Guardians, and best friend, her eyes blazing fire, "The next occasion I decide to kiss Syaoran I want NO Interruptions!! Is that clear?" Everyone agreed, even Touya (reluctantly), and Syaoran blushed.

"Good! Now, Kero, what did you want to know?"she asked. Since Sakura and Syaoran were no longer embracing each other, their hands had decided to do it for them, and had entwined together again. Sakura gave Syaoran's hand a squeeze, which was returned.

"What *exactly* happened up there, Sakura?" Kero asked.

So, Sakura explained, as concisely as she could, what had happened while she was fighting the Soul-Stealer. When she came near the end of the story, however, she paused.

"Well, Sakura?" Kero prompted, "You could tell the Stealer was almost defeated, and then.....?"

"It was really odd," Sakura tried to explain, Kero noticed a sad look come over her face, "It was like the... the Universe, was telling me that when I destroyed the Stealer, I was accepting my destiny."

"What 'destiny'?" Kero asked, he was getting an ominous feeling.

"Let me think, there was a term," Sakura's forehead creased in thought, "I would be accepting my destiny as an....umm.... a warrior for..... um... peace. Ya, that's it, a 'Warrior for Peace'."

Syaoran's hand tightened on hers, "Are you sure, Sakura?" he sounded concerned.

"Yes, pretty sure."

Yue gulped, and met Syaoran's gaze. They both knew what that meant.

"Hmmmm, a 'Warrior for Peace'," Kero whispered, where had he heard that before? While Kero was thinking, pieces of the prophecy Clow had given him to predict the coming 'Big Evil', came to mind:

_"You, Kerberos, and the Card Mistress, will recognize the Evil in it's smallest form.."_

(The Soul-Stealer hadn't been very small...)

_"You will both know it when it comes, but it will not know you, at first......"_

(The Stealer had seemed to recognize Sakura.....)

_"It will not come until after the Card Sorceress has accepted her destiny as a Warrior for Peace. For, only as such can she defeat it....."_

(Whoops!!)

"Um, Sakura?" Kero ventured.

"Yes Kero?"

"I, uh, just realized something..... It's kinda funny really....." he gave a very weak laugh and put one of his stuffed arms behind his head.

"What is it Kero? Just tell us!" Syaoran demanded.

"Well, you remember how I told you guys that Sakura only had one Really Big Evil to face, to save the world?"

They all nodded.

"Well," he laughed weakly again, "The Soul-Stealer wasn't it........."

  
  


The End Of "What the Cards Were For"

** This was a quote from the Disney movie _The Emperors New Groove,_ Which I do not own.

  
  


End Notes: Did you guys like it? I hope so, that was fun! ^_^ Anyway, I do have some ideas for a sequel. So, the question is: 'Should I write a sequel?' What do you think? If I do, it might take awhile because of school, but I can try.

Bye (For now)

Bekah-chan ^_^


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